John Christie, from Folkestone, challenged himself with a 722-mile solo walk from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea to raise funds and awareness for Abigail’s Footsteps.
His epic challenge raised enough to donate an Abi Cooling Cot to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent. Abi Cooling Cot’s keep babies at a cooler temperature meaning that the child can stay with their parents for longer, giving families the chance to grieve and say goodbye in their own time.
John and his partner, Paula Guile visited the William Harvey Hospital to officially hand over the Abi Cooling Cot they donated in memory of Ashley, Aidan and Angel.
John and Paula met Stacey Parker a Bereavement Midwife, Beckie Berger a Bereavement Support Worker and Jo Shayler, the Head of Midwifery to officially hand over the Abi Cooling Cot they donated to the Twinkling Stars Suite.
Stacey Parker, Bereavement Midwife, William Harvey Hospital said, “Our team are very thankful to John for his incredible fundraising efforts to provide our Twinkling Stars suite with a new Abi cot in loving memory of Ashley, Aiden and Angel. We are in awe of John as he took on a momentous challenge of a solo hike of 500 miles from the Atlantic ocean to the Mediterranean sea! Having the Abi cot enables bereaved families to spend additional precious time with their beautiful babies in our bereavement suite and to make as many memories as they wish. What John has achieved truly is incredible and really will give so much to other families who will sadly need to use the bereavement suite but it is lovely they can have extended time with their beautiful precious babies.”
Fundraiser John Christie said, “It has been a strange day of mixed emotions. Handing over the cot knowing the circumstances for which it will be used for made it feel heartbreaking but knowing that this cot will bring some small comfort to bereaved parents by allowing them to spend precious time with their babies made me feel to be able to complete the challenge to raise the funds and awareness surrounding stillbirth. I am extremely humbled by all the generous donations received and will always be truly thankful.”
Paula Guile said, “For me, it was extremely hard to see the cot, but seeing my babies names on it bought me some comfort as I know that they are going to be helping other families and will never be forgotten. The heartache, the sadness, the anger, the guilt and so many other emotions that I felt over the years has all been eased thanks to John listening to me, taking on my heartache and sharing my story with the world. My precious boys will forever be with me but can now be free to help others. I would personally like to thank everyone, who has generously donated to the amazing charity Abigail’s Footsteps and supported both myself and John along the way. I am incredibly proud of John for what he has done for not only me and my boys but for everyone else that he has helped along the way.”
David Ward MBE, Co-Founder of Abigail’s Footsteps said, “When we had our daughter Abigail, we only had two or three hours with her. Having to say goodbye so soon was heartbreaking and we knew we had to do something to support other grieving parents. The Abi Cooling allows people to have two or three days with their baby if they wish. Abigail’s Footsteps is committed to providing an Abi Cooling Cot to every hospital in the UK. Each special cot costs over £3,000 and thanks to the generosity of those who fundraise for us we have been able to donate over 250 cots.”
To find out more about Abigail’s Footsteps visit www.abigailsfootsteps.co.uk and to discuss how you could help fundraise for an Abi Cooling Cot please contact faye.hill@abigailsfootsteps.co.uk
About the Abi Cooling Cot
Donations allow Abigail’s Footsteps to distribute Abi Cooling cots to hospitals across the country. The Abi Cooling Cot keeps the baby at a cooler temperature meaning that the child can stay with their parents for longer, giving families the chance to grieve and say goodbye in their own time.
The Abi Cot is produced by The Bond Group who are based in Sheerness, Kent and every donated cold cot includes an engraved plaque, in memory of a family’s loss.
www.abigailsfootsteps.co.uk/professionals/cold-cots-for-hospitals
About Abigail’s Footsteps
Abigail’s Footsteps is a Medway based baby loss charity, founded by Jo and David Ward in memory of their daughter Abigail who was stillborn at 41 weeks in 2009.
Abigails Footsteps aims to improve the baby loss bereavement training that health care professionals and care staff receive and improve the quality of supportive information that families receive if their family suffers a stillbirth.
They have provided over 250 Abi Cooling Cots to hospitals to preserve a stillborn baby until at least the day after the mother’s discharge from the hospital and work in partnership with NHS Trusts to fund sensitively designed delivery rooms located away from maternity wards.
