My name is Miky and together with the MZ9 Team we would like to run a series of challenges to raise money to support a charity which I hold close to my heart. Abigail's footsteps have been a huge support to my partner and I and I would like to tell you how.

Boma and I started our journey to become parents towards the end of 2018. In December 2018, we found out we were expecting our first baby together. As you can imagine we were over the moon but not for long. After several weeks my partner started experiencing pain and bleeding. We went to the hospital and were told that she was going to need surgery due to an ectopic pregnancy. 

After 3 months we were ready to try again. We fell pregnant not to short after that but the joy soon ended when my partner experienced an early miscarriage. This did not discourage us and we decided to try again soon after. We fell pregnant but once again we were not lucky as it was yet again another miscarriage. This time she needed another surgery as the process was not happening naturally so doctors advised to have the baby removed. At this point, we were told to take a break and do some tests to find out why she was having recurrent miscarriages.

During the summer of 2019, while we were waiting for the test results to come back, we discovered that we were expecting again (this wasn't planned!). We were so happy and this time we were convinced that it would be the right time. We firmly believed that everything would be perfect and that we would finally have the baby we longed for. 

On the 15th of January 2020 my partner was 26 weeks pregnant. She started having serious pains. The pains became stronger and stronger so we decided to call an ambulance. When we arrived at the hospital the doctors scanned her straight away only to discover that they couldn't see a heartbeat. We were told that our baby was no longer alive. It was such a shock and we were both devastated and in so much pain. How could this happen, again? It was a living nightmare. We couldn’t believe what was happening. Neither of us has ever even heard of stillbirth until this moment.

The doctor's told us that my partner was in labour and that it was her body's natural way of expelling the baby. After seven gruelling hours of pain and suffering my partner gave birth to our little baby girl Bambu. She was born sleeping like a little angel. We were heartbroken. 

From that day onwards our life has not been the same. We knew we had to find the strength to be there for each other and support each other as much as we could to get through this difficult time . More importantly we also had to share the news with our two other young boys who we knew would be as heartbroken as we were. They were so excited to meet their little sister and this would crush their hopes and dreams.

My partner struggled immensely with the grief and she needed help. This is when she was told about a charity called Abigail's footsteps. They were able to provide her with a specialist baby loss counsellor that would help and support her through her journey. She started the sessions on her own and I later joined her for a couple of sessions. There is hardly any support out there for bereaved parents that specialises in such a loss so finding Abigail's footsteps was an absolute lifesaver. The counselling sessions helped us find the confidence in ourselves to try again for another baby so soon after losing Bambu.

Without the above support, both of us would have not felt strong and confident enough to try again so soon and to be honest, I am not sure if we would ever have been ready to give it another go.

But here we are, today, pregnant once again. It's a bag of mixed emotions but generally speaking we feel blessed to be able to conceive and go through this journey once again. Is it scary? Yes. Are we anxious? Yes. This will by no means be an easy run but due to the support network we have been given through the specialists involved with Abigail's footsteps we are feeling more confident than we thought we would. 

As we are so grateful for the support received we would like to help, and collect funds that will go on to support Abigail's footsteps so that they can continue to support all of those bereaved families out there.

I will collect funds by doing cycling and running challenges with my MZ9 Team starting from November and every two weeks. 

The list of the first 5 challenges are:

1) KENT on the bike (Around 320km)

2) 7 half marathon in 7 day

3) 45 Rotherfield Hills (4000m Climb)

4) 12 hrs CROSS-DUATHLON around BEWL WATER (1 lap mountain bike, 1 lap running for 12 hrs no stop)

5) 4 stage Lanzarote MTB Race

All the dates will be confirmed soon.

The challenges and the fundraising will be documented in the facebook group here >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/949151388904408

Thank you for your support!

UPDATES on 26/07/2021

NEVER FORGET…

5 months ago today our little Bambu arrived with a big smile 😊 in our lives!!

We cannot describe what the last 5 months has meant for our family. 

Joy, smiles, a lot of green poos and stinky fart but also long sleeps…she loves her bed and actually she’s excited to go to bed and sleep 12 hrs no stop.

We love her indescribably!

We want to once again say thank you to Abigails for the support received post Angel Bambu because they gave us the strength to be able to be in the situation we are in today.

Today, to celebrate her 5th month I would like to let you all know that i will be competing in a very long triathlon in less than 2 weeks time in support of Abigail Footsteps.

The race is 5km swim, 200km bike and 50km run and it’s at Goodwood racing track on 8th August. Check it out 255 Triathlon!

I also want to say a big thank you to all the people that have already supported us and the charity these past months. Can I ask you all please to share this fundraiser with everyone around you so we can make sure that Abigails Footsteps will receive more support needed to support many other family affected by stillbirth!!

Thank you 🙏🏻

UPDATED ON 25/03/22