A GRANDAD has completed a cycle across the country in memory of his late baby daughter and the charity close to his heart.

Brian English, 61, has completed a 1,014-mile cycle and climbed more than 60,000 feet from Land’s End to John O’Groats in just ten days.

Brian is the chairman of Essex SANDS, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity in Essex.

The South Woodham Ferrers based group supports people who have been impacted by the loss of a baby.

Echo:

Brian has raised more than £4500 for the charity and in memory of his daughter Siobhan, who was stillborn at 42 weeks gestation in January 1989.

Brian previously attempted the cycle in 2019, when he was knocked off his bike after 12 miles and suffered a broken hip.

Now, after a hip replacement and lots of training he has completed the impressive cycle.

The cycle started at Lands End in Penzance, Cornwall, and ended at the other side of the country at John O'Groats in north Scotland.

Brian said: “When I got John O'Groats at the end of the ride, I picked up a stone as a memento to put on Siobhan’s grave.

“I did cry and I was crying not because of what happened to us in 1989, I was thinking of young couples going through it afresh.

Echo:

“For the first few weeks you can barely function and the reality is grief and baby loss doesn’t get any easier but you learn to carry the feelings.

“You can’t do much for the baby when it dies, but I kind of feel like I have done something now and its lovely.

“You can find acceptance in the end and you can find happiness. From the depths of despair, you can still find happiness.”

Brian sees many experiences since the loss of his baby as gifts from her as his angel.

He said: “Since I’ve finished, I’ve never felt happier, my wife said she hopes the feeling never goes away.

“It’s been a few years that I’ve wanted to do it and if I didn’t do it, I would have regretted it.

“I’d never have done this if my baby hadn’t had died, it gave me a lifetime experience.

“Once you get through the initial years of grief, I have had lovely experiences meeting people and feeling proud.

Echo:

“All of those experiences and all the people I met, it’s a gift that my baby has given me and without her I never would have had that.”

For Brian the hardest day coincided with the Queen's death when he cycled past Balmoral and was challenged by multiple steep hills.

He said: “For the first time ever I couldn’t get up the hill.

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“I was gutted, I put my foot down and had to walk.

“There were two more hills and I was worried that I’d have to put my foot down again, but I didn’t.

“I had a little bracelet on with Siobhan’s name on it and I kept looking at it and it gave me strength.

“I swear if I didn’t think about her, I wouldn’t have got up the hills.

Echo:

“When I broke my hip three years ago, I was distraught and gutted that I couldn’t do the cycle.

“It was all the sweeter because of having that pain.”

Brian hopes to be able to continue to support others impacted by the loss of a child.

Baby loss awareness week starts on Sunday, October 9 and runs until Saturday, October 15.

The week ends with the Wave of Light event on Saturday at 7pm, which encourages families across the country to light a candle in memory of their babies.

For more information, go to https://babyloss-awareness.org/wave-of-light/.