When Arek and his fiancée tragically lost their baby, they received excellent care from the Maternity Bereavement Team at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. In this video, Arek explains how a desire to give back to hospital and honour his son’s memory led to him running a half marathon in support of CW+.
Arek explains how the incredible support he received from hospital staff made him want to fundraise for CW+
Arek's story: transcript
I am taking part in the Richmond Half Marathon. I took the inspiration for this challenge after the loss of our baby boy.
The transformative impact of staff
We spent one week in hospital here. It was the worst week of our lives, but it could have been much, much worse if we had not had such wonderful people around us. We received great support from the whole team. They treated us with such kindness and compassion. We were not only patients to them. We were a family who had lost a child. The care they gave us made an incredibly painful experience easier to carry.
Finding a way to give back
After that, I asked myself how I could repay the people who helped us so much. When I found the CW+ website, I saw the fundraising challenges and decided to take on one myself.
Keeping Adam's memory alive
I am taking on the challenge on 24 June. It is close to the date when our baby boy was supposed to be born. I said to myself: ‘I’m going to do this for our baby boy.’ For Adam, actually. His name is Adam. As a father, this is my way of keeping him in my heart and my way of grieving. I want to take on challenges and stay strong for him. I cannot make new memories with him, but I can keep his memory alive.
Thanks to fundraisers like Arek, we’re able to support the delivery of outstanding care to a population of more than 1.5 million people.
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