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On Sunday 2 October I will be running the London Marathon in memory of our precious little girl, Minnie. As most of you who read this will know, Minnie was born on 26January 2018 but suffered a traumatic brain injury during birth which was so severe that tragically she died 5 days before her 2 birthday.

Minnie endured so much during her short life so in her memory I want to challenge myself to do something that will push me to my limits and in doing so raise some much needed funds for a charity close to our hearts, Acorns Children’s Hospice. Acorns supported us during Minnie’s life and even more so after her death.

Despite knowing Minnie’s brain injury was a life limiting condition, her death was actually sudden and unexpected. We were away from home celebrating Minnie’s Grandma’s birthday in Cornwall when Minnie stopped breathing in her sleep on the last night of our weekend away. Paramedics came and managed to restart her heart but when we reached the hospital and Minnie was assessed, we were told that Minnie’s brain had suffered further significant damage and she was not expected to survive coming off life support. The doctors’ assessment was correct and when life support was eventually withdrawn Minnie died in her Mum’s arms with all her family surrounding her.

Losing Minnie in this way was a shock, we were not ready to be parted from her. It was at this point that Acorns were invaluable. Our wonderful family support worker Sandra kept in touch with us while we were in the hospital in Cornwall, giving us advice on what would happen next. Acorns offered Minnie a special bedroom after her death where she could stay as long as we wanted her to. We were also given a family room to stay in so that we could be with Minnie at anytime of the day or night. Sandra explained that we were able to leave the hospital with Minnie and drive her ourselves up to the hospice in Worcester. When we arrived at around midnight, Sandra was there to welcome us and support us. The next day she took us to register Minnie’s death and then over the next few days helped us to arrange Minnie’s funeral. We stayed at the hospice for a week while we came to terms with our loss.

We will never forget the kindness and compassion all of the Acorns staff and volunteers showed us. We will always be indebted to them so running the marathon is the least I can do for them and for Minnie. I know so many of our friends and family have very kindly donated in Minnie’s memory previously but please if you can do so again it would mean so much. Sadly there are too many families like ours who desperately need Acorns support so anything you can spare would be so appreciated. I know I have set myself a really large target and that money is tight for so many people right now but I also know we have
amazing friends and family. Even the smallest of donations will make a difference.

Thank you so much, from the bottom of our hearts, John, Brodie, our angel Minnie and her baby sister Marnie.

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