Story
<p><span style="color: #ff1493;">Hi and thanks for visiting my fundraising page.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color: #ff1493;">Hopefully after reading the following you will understand why i have the will power to run <strong>half a marathon</strong>!!!!!!! and why I have chosen <strong>Sands charity</strong> to raise as much money as possible.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">My story</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">At 1:25am on the 2nd July 2010 my sister Abigail gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Joel Alfie George Birtles weighing 6lb 2oz. What should have been a happy ocassion quickly turned into the saddest and most devastating moment of my families lives as Joel was born, full term (40 weeks and 3 days) asleep.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Words cannot express the heart ache in which my sister, her husband and their five year old little girl are going through as they are left without their baby boy, with so many questions and a huge feeling of emptiness. Why and how does this happen to people who are so longing for their baby??? </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">The sad thing is this does happen and it happens to 17 babies every day in the UK and effects, traumatises and changes so many peoples lives forever. </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">My sister was told 2 days earlier after a routine midwife appointment that there was no heartbeat from baby Joel. After a rush to the hospital for an ultra sound scan it was revealed that Joel had died.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">If the situation was not bad enough, during induced labour requiring episiotomy and forceps delivery, unknown to medical staff!!, Abigails uterus had ripped open in 3 places resulting in extreme severe internal bleeding. Abigail ended up spending days in intensive care, which was physically and mentally wounding for herself and the family as we were left without the baby boy we were expecting and with a very poorly mum who struggled to pull through.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">I keep hoping its a huge nightmare and we will eventually wake up from it all.</span><span style="color: #000000;"> I keep thinking <em>'This doesn't happen now a days and this shouldn't happen to my family'</em> but the sad fact of the matter is........ it has happened, we have been tested in the most horrific way possible, devastation has been left in our lives and each day is a struggle, yet a huge stepping stone as we try to help my sister and her family through the pain.</span><span style="color: #000000;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">The death of my nephew has left a huge hole in my family's lives as well as my own and I will be doing this half marathon for my sister, our family and in memory of baby Joel, our little star in the sky. Our baby we had, but never had and yet will have forever.......we'll forget you never.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color: #ff1493;"> </span><span style="color: #ff1493;"> </span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>They say there is a reason</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> They say there is a reason,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> They say that time will heal,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> But neither time or reason,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> Will change the way we feel,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> For no-one knows the heartache,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> That lies behind our smiles,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> No one knows how many times,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> We have broken down and cried,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> We want to tell you something,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> So there won't be any doubt,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> You're so wonderful to think of,</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"> But so hard to be without.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color: #ff1493;">I want to help make a difference by raising as much money as possible for those parents and families affected by the loss of their baby and also help research teams who are trying to prevent this from happening in earlier stages.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff1493;">I would be really grateful if you would sponsor me for this fantastic cause and if you would like to know more about the charity please read below.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff1493;">thanks</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff1493;">Megan : ) xxxxxxxxxxxxx</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>About the Charity I am raising money for:</strong> Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, is an organisation that offers support when a baby dies during pregnancy or after birth.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Sands, was founded in 1978 by a small group of bereaved parents devastated by the death of their babies and in particular by what they felt was a complete lack of acknowledgement and understanding of the significance and impact of their loss.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Over the past 25 years the charity has supported many thousands of families whose babies have died, offering emotional support, comfort and practical help. Sands has worked tirelessly with health professionals to revolutionise the care bereaved families receive in hospital. Sands has fundamentally changed the way in which bereaved parents and their babies are cared for</span></p>
<p><span><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Why Sands is so relevant:</strong> Incredibly in the UK today, in spite of medical advances, many parents, their families and friends continue to have their lives quite literally turned upside down by the death of their baby. 17 babies a day are either stillborn or die within the first twenty eight days of life, over 6,500 babies dying every year. Rates of stillbirth have remained relatively unchanged for 20 years and in fact are increasing.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Sands core aims are to:</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">support anyone affected by the death of a baby;</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">work with health professionals to improve the quality of care and services provided to bereaved parents and their families;</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">and promote changes in antenatal practice and to fund research that could help to reduce the loss of babies' lives and the number of families devastated by this tragedy.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">With your support we can really make a difference.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">So please sponsor me now and thank you for your support!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Megan xx</span></p>
<p> </p>