Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On the 1 April 2012 I will be walking up Snowdon in memory of my daughter, Jessica Jane Ricketts. This is no April fool; I intend to complete the walk with Jessica as my inspiration to get fit and ensure I complete it.

I will be walking with a group of parents who like me have lost their much wanted babies, so we are going to unite to raise money and awareness, in memory of our little angels.

It has been a very difficult time for Chris and me since we found out that there were problems with our unborn baby. We now find ourselves grieving for the life that will never be, and the life that lived only for a while in me. We wanted that life, we wanted it desperately. It is over now and we are left grieving for our loss. We will always love and remember Jessica for she is a part of us both.

At our baby's 20 week scan we heard the words no one wants to hear ‘there is a problem with your baby and it doesn’t look good’. I don’t really remember what happened next, I remember standing in the room just staring at the screen, at our baby. It was then that our lives fell apart. Our much loved, desperately wanted baby was ill. We were then seen 3 agonising days later by a fetal medicine consultant. It was at this stage we were told of the severity of the problems. Jessica had Alobar holoprosencephaly with the possibility of a chromosomal problem, so I had an amniocentesis. The results confirmed that Jessica had Patau’s syndrome and combined with her brain abnormalities she was ‘not compatible with life’. It was so difficult to accept, our baby would never come home and this information presented us with a decision no parent wants to make.

The idea of ending my baby daughter’s life was too hard to bear, how could I do that to someone I loved so much? The only thing that both Chris and I were sure of was that we could not let her suffer. Jessica was born asleep on 17 August 2011.

We were given the details of ARC by the hospital and we were so grateful to have somewhere to turn in our time of need. ARC supports everyone who contacts them at any stage of prenatal testing and continues to do so whatever decision they reach. They offer balanced, caring and informative support to parents in similar situations to us. They provide standard literature given to parents facing these decisions and deliver extensive training to doctors, midwives, and other health professionals. They are a small charity and the work they do is in an area no one wants to think about. Please help them to be there for families who are suddenly forced to make decisions no parent should ever have to.

If this walk in memory of Jessica can help raise awareness of ARC's excellent work and potentially ease the suffering of other expectant parents, it will have been worthwhile. ARC have been there supporting us from when we received the devastating news that there were problems at the 20 week scan, until now. I know that they will continue to support us in the future with whatever life has in store for us. We would like to thank them for their support and to be able to give something back to them and to help other parents, who find themselves in this devastating situation.

Jessica was only with us for such a short time but she has changed our lives and she will live on forever in our thoughts and memories.

 Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.