Karen’s father died when she was 11 years old, and her baby son, Jamie, died when she was 22-weeks pregnant. Karen talks about her experiences and why she decided to fundraise for Child Bereavement UK. 

In April 2012, when I was 22-weeks pregnant, I was told at a routine appointment that my baby had passed away. I was totally unaware of the situation as, at an appointment just a week before, I had been shown a healthy baby and heartbeat.

It was absolutely devastating news to us, and I completely broke down. We had already experienced a number of consecutive miscarriages prior to this pregnancy, and we really thought that this time we would finally get to meet our baby.

The birth of our son, Jamie, was the most devastating and traumatic experience we have ever gone through; we thought we would never get through it.

Nothing prepared me for the weeks and months of sadness to come. The sadness never goes, you just learn to live a new kind of normal.

The birth of our son, Jamie, was the most devastating and traumatic experiences we have ever gone through; we thought we would never get through it. We had fantastic support from the hospital, but nothing prepared me for the weeks and months of sadness to come. The sadness never goes, you just learn to live a new kind of normal. We did finally get a reason to smile again as I gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Freya, in 2013.

My dad passed away when I was 11, and this has also been a traumatic part of my life. At the time I was a gymnast and competed at a good level. I spent a lot of time training which I found a happy, safe place that somehow helped me with my grief.

After I lost Jamie, I started to keep fit and found it helpful. I really enjoyed running so I just kept going. I decided to set myself a goal to run the London Marathon, but I wanted it to have meaning.

I instantly knew I wanted to raise money for Child Bereavement UK. I wanted to help ease the pain of other people experiencing the same losses that I’ve had.

After I lost Jamie, I started to keep fit and I found it helpful again. I really enjoyed running so I just kept going. I decided to set myself a goal to run the London Marathon, but I wanted it to have meaning. When I was applying, I stumbled across Child Bereavement UK. When Jamie died, we weren’t aware of Child Bereavement UK - a charity that could have helped us at that difficult time - but I instantly knew I wanted to raise money to help them. I wanted to help ease the pain of other people experiencing the same losses that I’ve had.

The support I received from the events team at Child Bereavement UK was fantastic. I received regular monthly emails with advice and tips on training and fundraising.

The support I received from the fundraising team at Child Bereavement UK was fantastic. I received regular monthly emails with advice and tips on training and fundraising. The team called me on a regular basis, asking how I was and whether there was anything I needed. I was sent a running vest with my name on it and materials to help with my fundraising.

The night before the London Marathon I received a phone call wishing me good luck. There was loads of support from cheerers on the day, followed by a lovely dinner and massage at the after-party. A few weeks later I was sent a letter thanking me for the money that I had raised.

My advice to others thinking about taking on a challenge to raise funds for Child Bereavement UK is don’t panic that the fundraising target is too high. You get lots of support and with just a few events you can raise the funds quite easily.

Everyone at Child Bereavement UK is very friendly and you really feel part of a team. Raising money for such a worthy cause is so rewarding.

Everyone at Child Bereavement UK is very friendly and you really feel part of a team. Raising money for such a worthy cause is so rewarding.

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If you have been inspired to take on a challenge for us, please visit our challenge events page, contact our fundraising team on [email protected] or call us on 01494 569048.