Congratulations to West London Sands Befriender Jin and her fellow teammates Kuldip and Jes who ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon in aid of Sands on 2nd April. They raised over £9,500 for Sands to help support critical research to help save babies lives and support the great work that Sands do to help bereaved families. Jin and her husband Harry sadly lost their daughter Jaslin in 2011 and son Dylan in 2014.
| Daughter’s Death Inspires Local Woman’s Fundraising Effort |
| A woman is taking part in this year’s London marathon to raised funds for a charity that provides support for bereaved parents. Leanne Watts, who lived in Chiswick for over a decade before moving to Isleworth, lost her daughter Ava last October. Ava, was poorly from the moment she was born and immediately transferred to a Neonatal unit after Leanne gave birth. It was only when she was four days old that Leanne was able to hold her daughter for the first time but, at that stage, the terminal diagnosis had already been given. Along with her husband Mike, she was able to spend a day with Ava, reading her stories and introducing her to her big sister before she passed away in her mother’s arms.Leanne said, “Mike & I took great comfort in our friends & family lighting candles for Ava at this time, alongside the rest of the baby loss community and essentially being her guiding lights to a better place.”She added, “As parents, Mike & I have had to have the most horrific conversations and had to make unimaginable decisions that I really wish no other parent had to do but unfortunately the statistics speak for themselves – 1 in 4 pregnancies will end in miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death. You think it will never happen to you or anyone you know, unfortunately I’m living proof it does & it’s excruciatingly painful on a daily basis.”Although she isn’t a runner, Leanne is taking part in this year’s London Marathon on Sunday 23 April for the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (SANDS). She was informed of her marathon place on what would have been Ava’s due date.The charity’s local support group, which Leanne attends, meets in the Chiswick area.At the time of writing, Leanne is 95% of the way to raising her target of £13,000 with over 200 people already donating.You can find out more about Ava’s story and support Leanne’s fundraising efforts here. |
The Sands Football Team
I play for a very special football team. It’s not a team anybody wants to be part of, but once you join it’s a team you’ll never leave. All the members have one thing in common – they have lost a child. We play with the name of our child on our shirts, above our…
West London Parent ran two Marathons last year
Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to local parents Jess and Rahul. Last year Rahul ran 1992km including two marathons in Paris and Berlin for Sands and the Brain Research Trust. Rahul and Jess lost their son in 2013 and wanted to do something to raise awareness and funding for Sands research and practical support. They raised…
West London Sands Befriender Donates Cuddle Cot for Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital
West London Sands Befriender, Karen and her husband Angus, recently donated a cuddle cot to Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in memory of their son Rory, born on 5 December 1998, for his 20th anniversary this year. The cuddle cot will give parents an opportunity to spend as much time as possible with their babies…
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