A WOMAN is running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in memory of her son who died shortly after birth.

Lindsay Oliver, 36, of Chestnut Grove, Benfleet, lost her son Henry in July 2015 when she was just 21 weeks pregnant.

Since her loss, Mrs Oliver, who works as a speech therapist, has dedicated her time volunteering for Aching Arms, a charity that supports mothers who have experienced the loss of their baby. The money raised will go towards the charity.

She said: “I had my 20-week scan and found that I was having a healthy little boy and brother and football buddy for my eldest son, Finley, I was over the moon.

“That weekend I went to the farm with my husband and son, but I then got a stomach ache and back ache.”

Mrs Oliver went to the hospital. She thought doctors would tell her it was a small problem and she could just go home and rest.

She said: “The doctors weren’t sure where the infection came from, they believed it was from my waters.

“I had to stay in the hospital to do some tests. The next morning my blood tests showed that I had an infection and the doctors said that as the baby was still fine, if the infection did not progress within the following 12 hours then they could save him. However, 12 hours later the infection had got so bad that we were given an ultimatum ‘ either one of you dies or both of you die’.

“I was induced and after six hours my beautiful Henry was born at 21 weeks. Henry only lived for half an hour. I tried to talk to him as much as possible before he went away. After Henry died, I was given an Aching Arms bear when I was in the hospital.

"There wasn’t much time for me to grieve, because I still have a little one to look after. But I couldn’t just go back to work like Henry never existed, so I decided to volunteer for Aching Arms to help others. This is my way to remember Henry.”

Mrs Oliver will run the half marathon on Sunday. Head to achingarms.co.uk to support her.