About Henry

Henry was born on 25th February 2009 after a completely normal pregnancy. He was 10 days overdue and we couldn't wait for him to arrive. Once my labour began I went into hospital and things appeared to be progressing as normal. I remember the midwife telling me I was nearly there and I was going to have my baby that day. Then his heart beat slowed and I was rushed in for an emergency c-section. When I came round from the operation I was told that following tests, they had discovered that Henry had no brain function at all and that there was nothing they could do. The beautiful baby we had longed for all those months, who looked so perfect, was not going to live. Our world fell apart.

Henry died in my arms 21 hours later.

We will cherish the hours we had with him for the rest of our lives, no matter how painful they are to remember.

An agonising 6 months later we recieved the results of the post mortem. We found out that Henry had been starved of oxygen prior to the onset of labour due to the umbilical cord becoming tangled.

Whilst the circumstances of Henry's death are rare, our loss is not. An average of seventeen babies die every day in the UK. That's over 6,500 baby deaths a year - the equivalent of 16 jumbo jets crashing every year with no survivors.

Though sadly many stillbirths and early deaths are unavoidable, there is evidence that a significant number of stillbirths and perinatal deaths could potentially be prevented. Sands aims to support anyone affected by the death of a baby, to improve the quality of care and services offered to bereaved families and to promote research and changes in practice that could reduce the loss of babies' lives.

Each year we aim to arrange a fundraising event in Henry's memory and to raise awareness of the issues surrounding stillbirth and neonatal death.

The Challenge

In September 2011, myself and Cara, who sadly lost her Grandson Kyle several years ago, will be riding 120 miles of the pennine bridleway on our horses Lime and Oshie. Starting near Ashbourne, Derbyshire and finishing at the end of the Settle Loop in Lancashire, we will be averaging 7-8 hours a day in the saddle (ouch!). We will mostly be camping en-route, supported by Simon, Mike and Henry's little brother 15 month old Toby. We are funding this trip ourselves so 100% of what we raise will go to SANDS.

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So please dig deep and donate now.

Jude, Mike & Toby Thomas & Cara and Simon Parbery