Katie's Reason for Running
By Katie Whyman
William was born 3 months premature on 18th July 2016 weighing just 757 grams. William was looked after in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Lewisham Hospital by the most amazing team, but unfortunately after 10 days of giving a strong fight, William passed away.
When something like that happens you really don’t know what to do or where to turn. My friends and family were all really supportive throughout that difficult time, so I was incredibly lucky. Tommy’s website and information line were great at giving advice but the most support I actually found was through Instagram.
Through Instagram I found an amazing support network and have made some really good friends too. If it hadn’t been for Instagram I don’t think I would have got all the support I needed. It is a fantastic network of other people who had also been through the same thing, talking to them and reading blogs helped me get through such a difficult time.
People sometimes find it hard to say William’s name. But I love to hear people say William’s name, I love to talk about him, I love to post photos on Instagram of him. I’m going to have his name on the back of my running vest and I can’t wait to hear my friends and family shout out his name as encouragement as I complete the run. It’s really special for me to talk about him and say his name. 6 months after William passed away I was lucky enough to fall pregnant again and have been blessed with my now 9 month old rainbow baby Isobel and although she will never meet her brother it’s important that she knows about him and she will.
William’s birthday is an emotional time, so this year I wanted to channel all my energy and focus on something in his memory and when I saw the Virgin Sport British 10K was only 3 days before William’s second birthday I thought it couldn’t have been more perfect. I used to be an avid runner before I fell pregnant with William and did the London Marathon 12 years ago. I saw this as a great way of getting back into running and to give back to a charity that is helping prevent people from going through what I went through. I loved being part of Team Tommy’s and running in William’s memory.
Louise, who has been an amazing support throughout ran with me as part of our ‘Running for William’ team in July. We aimed to raise £800 between us and astonishingly managed to raise £1060 which we are incredibly proud of. Losing a baby is one of the worst things you can experience and Tommy’s are carrying out research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth and want every parent to have a happy ending. If the money we raise for Tommy’s can help to stop even one family from losing their baby, it will all be worth it.