On the 25th of September 2022, my wife and I faced the unimaginable, the kind of heartbreak no parent should ever have to endure. We were told that the baby we had been eagerly waiting for, dreaming about, and already loving with all our hearts, had passed away.

There are no words that can truly capture the pain of baby loss. One moment, you're planning a future filled with laughter and milestones, and the next, you're told that future will never come to be. It’s a grief that shakes you to your core.

Because our baby was further along in the pregnancy, we were told he would need to be delivered. The thought of giving birth to a child who would never cry, never open his eyes, never come home with us, it was a sorrow beyond anything we had ever known.

In the midst of that darkness, a small act of kindness brought us a moment of peace. A nurse gently wheeled in a Cooling Cot, a special cot that allowed our baby to stay with us in the room. It meant we didn’t have to say goodbye right away. We could hold him, talk to him, grieve with him, and begin to build a bond, even if only for a short time.

When the nurse told us our baby was a boy, we named him Yusuf Ahmed. Though Yusuf never took a breath in this world, he will always be our son. His presence, however brief, changed our lives forever.

I believe every parent who experiences baby loss should have the chance to spend time with their child, to say goodbye in their own way. That’s why I, along with Allie Landers, Bradley Smith, Emily Francis, Josh Swani, Nazim Miah, and Terrique Taylor, am raising money for Abigail’s Footsteps, a charity that provides Cooling Cots to hospitals and hospices across the UK and Ireland.

On Saturday, the 30th of October, we’ll be taking on the challenge of the 3 Yorkshire Peaks, hoping to raise £3,000 to help other families find comfort in their darkest moments, just as we did.

The Abi Cooling Cot is a refrigerated unit that allows families to spend more time with their deceased baby than would otherwise be possible. The cooling cot helps parents to bond with their baby and aids the grieving process. The cooling cot is supplied by Abigail's Footsteps in partnership with The Bond Group . We have delivered cots to over 100 hospitals and hospices in the UK and Ireland so far. It is our mission to encourage all bereavement suites in hospitals to have at least two cooling cots.