Beautiful Bumble is inspiration for charity challenge
Paul Black (right) with other Team Bumble members Tony Popham (left) and Scott Woodland (centre). The men are cycling the length of Ireland to raise money and awareness for Sands, the charity which supported Mr Black and his partner Mandy Bryan-Harris when their daughter Bumble Bee was stillborn last year. Picture submitted.
A BEREAVED father whose second child was stillborn will cycle the length of Ireland to raise funds for the charity which helped him in his time of need.
Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, has supported Paul Black and his fiancee Mandy Bryan-Harris in the five months since they lost their daughter Bumble Bee.
Miss Bryan-Harris, from Leamington, was 41 weeks into her pregnancy when a routine check-up revealed her baby’s heart had stopped beating.
The couple, who live in Stretton-on-Dunsmore, dashed to Warwick Hospital where a scan confirmed their daughter had died.
Mr Black said: “Our lives stopped for a while as we tried to understand why a seemingly healthy baby that was overdue could suddenly be taken from us.”
The couple have described their heartache at having to explained to their three-year-old son Max why his sister, whom he had affectionately named, would not be coming home.
It was during their most difficult time that the family were helped by the Coventry and Warwickshire Sands group.
Mr Black said: “Sands has provided constant support and has enabled us to chat to other parents who have also lost babies.
“We are sadly unable to change the outcome for our beautiful daughter, but the reality of this situation is that a number of these deaths could be prevented.
“We were astonished that in the UK 17 babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth every single day.
“This is a shocking statistic which despite medical advances and improved diagnostic procedures does not show any sign of decreasing.”
To “keep Bumble Bee’s spirit alive” Mr Black and six friends will cycle 500 kilometres from Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland to Cork in the south from May 23.
The money Team Bumble raises will fund vital research and support.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leamington
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
