Bishop’s Stortford fireman Lewis Hayzelden raced up 42 floors and 1,092 steps in just 14 minutes and 22 seconds as part of Tommy’s Skyscraper Challenge.
He finished his epic endeavour by ziplining from the Cheese Grater, London’s 225m (738ft) tall Leadenhall Building, to the Gherkin and has so far raised more than £1,700 for the miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth research charity.
On September 27, 2015, Lewis and wife Stacy’s second daughter, Sienna, was stillborn after a routine scan at 32 weeks revealed their baby’s heart had stopped beating.
Stacy then faced the trauma of giving birth on a labour ward full of mums and newborns.
Since then, the couple have fundraised for research into baby loss and support for bereaved parents and campaigned to break the taboo of talking about stillbirth. Nationally, one in four women will lose a baby during pregnancy or birth.
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Each year, Stacy and Lewis mark Sienna’s birthday by spending time as a family with big sister Ella, who is now 10 and a Year 6 student at Spellbrook primary.
This month, they have planned a boat trip on the Thames but Stacy said: “We always do something special on that day.”
That comfort of commemoration has once again prompted her to organise an event to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week from October 9 to 15 as part of her involvement with East Herts Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity.
As usual, the couple will be lighting up their Farnham Road home in pink and blue and Bishop’s Stortford Town Council has given her permission to attach blue and pink ribbons to the railings at Castle Park in the Causeway during the week.
Each memento will carry the name of a much-loved child lost in pregnancy, at birth or shortly afterwards.
Stacy will ensure a stock of ribbons are available for families to use at the temporary memorial, near the splashpool, and parents are also welcome to bring their own.
She will also add named ribbons and messages for anyone unable to visit the spot.
Stacy said: “For us, it’s about being able to speak about what happened and making people aware…there is still that stigma.”
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She still feels uneasy when she sees other women sharing scan pictures from early pregnancy on social media, oblivious to the heartbreak all too many will face when something goes wrong because the subject is regarded as too difficult to discuss.
Stacy said: “Raising awareness is really what it’s all about, but not in a way that makes anyone scared.”
To sponsor Lewis and help him top his £2,500 target for Tommy’s see https://skyscraperchallenge.tommys.org/fundraising/lewis-hayzelden2.
To ask Stacy to add a name to the Baby Loss Awareness Week memorial, email [email protected].
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