In memory of Isaac Lander

This summer 8 of us (plus 4 members of Isaac's family) will be
completing the UK 3 peaks challenge in memory of our son and to fundraise for our chosen charity SANDs.

Our story...

We woke up on the 18th November 2020 feeling full of excitement, knowing that Josh could finally attend ultrasounds scans in the midst of a global pandemic! Not at any point did we expect the following months to play out as they did. On that day, we were given the news at our 20 week scan something was obviously wrong with our baby. We were told the news, that no expecting parents want to hear, that it was highly likely our baby would not survive and we should end the pregnancy. After weeks of multiple hospital visits, ultrasound scans and an MRI, it was confirmed at 28 weeks that our baby would not survive once born. As you would expect, our world was shattered by this news. We made a plan to be induced at 34 weeks, to keep Jess safe but as a way of hoping to meeting our baby alive. Our beautiful boy, Isaac Anthony Lander was born on the 27th February 2021 at the Royal Derby Hospital. Despite the odds of not even making it through labour, he was born alive and he spent 45 minutes with us. Our little fighter. He was a very healthy weight and was a perfect blend of us both - dark curly hair and big feet like his Daddy!

We had Isaac in the butterfly room at the Royal Derby Hospital. This is a suite designed for bereaved parents and funded by the charity SANDs. It allows parents like ourselves to stay and make important and precious memories with their baby after he/she is born. It was such an important and safe space for us, allowing us to stay with our boy in private but also making us feel at home and at ease. Knowing how important the suite was for us, there was no doubt we wanted to raise funds to continue to keep and maintain this space for future families.

This summer, 12 of us (including Isaac's auntie, uncles, grandparents and close friends) are setting off from Derbyshire. 8 of us will climb Scotland's, England's and Wales' biggest mountains all in the space of 24 hours. This will involve 23 miles of hiking (if you've ever seen one of Josh's warm-ups for ERFC then this will shock you!), around 1000 miles of driving and a total ascent of 3064 meters in unpredictable weather conditions.

Our ascent of Ben Nevis will begin at 10am on Saturday 31st July, before we drive south to climb Scafell Pike in the late evening. To finish, we will head to north Wales to ascend Snowden beginning at sunrise, as we (hopefully!) finish within the 24 hour time frame at 10am on Sunday 1st August (coincidentally the exact day a year ago that we discovered we were pregnant with Isaac!)

SANDs - the leading stillbirth and neonatal death charity in the UK. Sands exists to reduce the number of babies dying and to ensure that anyone affected by the death of a baby receives the best possible care and support for as long as they need it. They also provide ongoing bereavement support for parents and families nationally but also locally with regional support groups. We would like to funnel our money towards Derby SANDs, in order to allow any further improvements needed for the butterfly suite but also to provide support across Derbyshire.

Any donation would be hugely appreciated, but please only donate
what you can (even the price of a post-lockdown coffee or pint!). And if you can't donate please share.

Thank you.

Jess and Josh