The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A photographer who helps families capture precious memories of lost babies is taking on the London Marathon.
Mum-of-two Marie Sampson (40) will be raising money for Remember My Baby, a charity that provides baby remembrance photography to parents who lose their baby in hospital.
Marie, who suffered the loss of her twins, is one of the professional volunteer photographers who visit families who have just experienced the loss of their baby.
She said: “Although the family loses the potential for capturing a lifetime of milestones as their child grows, we capture a precious baby with parents, siblings and extended family for free.
“Each family receives a ‘free gift’ of high resolution digital images with a copyright licence to print for their own personal use.
“I chose to support this amazing cause because the images they provide for families are priceless and such an important part of their grieving process.
“Having suffered my own baby loss, it is a charity that means an immense amount to me.
“I hope that by running the London Marathon I will be able to raise awareness of the valuable service the charity provides and generate the fundraising needed to continue the service.
“I hope to have each mile sponsored in memory of an individual angel. The final mile will be in memory of my own twins and I plan to have the names of each angel on my running top.
“This will act as a poignant reminder to the cause and help me through when the going gets tough during the marathon.”
Marie, of Whaplode, started running in 2015, initially to help fundraise for a friend who wanted a special needs trike for her daughter.
She said: “We ran the 5K London Santa run, I then went on to run Great Eastern half marathon in October 2016 for Remember My Baby and this will be my first marathon – and probably my last!
“I only found out I had secured the charity place on January 1 so training started the very next day, with a combination of long, short and interval training runs, mainly running around the local area, however I have also joined the Spalding Running group, Halmer Harriers, to give me some moral support along the way.
Marie is planning to hold various fundraising events over the next three months including a table top sale, quiz night, a raffle and a collective marathon within the local girlguiding community.
To find out more about Remember My Baby go to www.remembermybaby.org.uk
To donate to Marie visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MarieSampson
