Shona Keane

Why I’m Running 2K a Day for Sands

This February, I’m running 2K every day to raise money for Sands.

Baby loss is something that touches far more people than we often realise. It’s said that one in two of us will either experience baby loss ourselves or know someone who has. I know many people who have been affected, including people very close to me and it’s something that has quietly shaped so many lives around us.

Recently, someone very close to me experienced a missed miscarriage. This is when a baby stops developing, but the body doesn’t immediately recognise the loss. There are often no physical signs, and the heartbreak is only discovered during a scan. It can mean carrying the pregnancy for days or weeks after the loss, which can be incredibly distressing both emotionally and physically. This prompted me to join this challenge to help support grieving parents.

Sands supports anyone affected by the death of a baby, offering compassionate emotional support, helpful resources, and guidance for families during unimaginably difficult times. They also work with healthcare professionals and fund vital research to help reduce baby loss in the future so that fewer families have to experience this pain.

I’m running 2K a day as a small, steady way of showing support, for  those I love, for those I know, and for those I don’t, but who are going through this loss right now.