Hello

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Many of you know that we sadly lost our first daughter, Lucy, on the day she was born on 6th Feb 2006. After a very healthy pregnancy I went into labour on my due date but tragically complications during delivery meant that Lucy was born very unwell and she died at 6 hours old.

Sadly this is not as unusual as you may think. Despite reductions in recent years there are still around 13 babies a day in the UK who die shortly before, during or soon after birth.

This year Lucy should have turned 18.

When she turned 10 I set myself the challenge of running 10 half marathons in 10 months for the charity Sands. This time I have set myself an even bigger challenge (well several!!).

From March 2024 to March 2025, which is the 12 months leading up to my 50th birthday, I will complete 18 challenges #18in12for50 to remember Lucy at 18 and to have some fun in the final year of my 40s. Because who wants to grow old quietly?!

The challenges consist of running, swimming, cycling, walking, & multi-sport events such as Triathlons.

My first event is the Its Grim Up North 20 mile run on the 16th March 2024 and my final race will hopefully be Barcelona Marathon in March 2025, which is likely to be 2 days before my 50th birthday. I have a full schedule of fun, and some would say slightly crazy, events planned!

This time I want to raise money for a local charity and so I have chosen Bradford's BIG Neonatal Appeal. I have chosen this for a couple of reasons. Bradford Teaching Hospital is my employer, but more importantly they safely delivered my two wonderful children Emelia & Lucas, 16 & 14 years ago respectively. Luckily, we didn't require the services of the neonatal unit, but we did receive excellent, compassionate care. Pregnancy and birth after a loss is particularly difficult and the maternity team at Bradford were outstanding. This is my way of saying thank you.

I'd also like to dedicate some of the challenges to the children of friends I've met over the years who have died prematurely, so if you would like me to do this for you, please get in touch.

And finally, none of this would be possible without my many crazy friends (you know who you are) who have agreed to complete the challenges with me. There is always room for more crazy friends in my life, so If you fancy anything on my list, get on touch. Your company would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read my story and thank you in advance for any donation you choose to give. Your support is appreciated.

Lisa x

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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