Luca's Legacy Run raises £15'000 for bereavement suite

NO road was too long for Kilkeel mum Laura Graham who ran from her home village to Daisy Hill Hospital in memory of her beloved son Luca, having raised over £15'000 for the hospitals Willow Bereavement Suite in the process.

Although Laura’s son Luca was tragically stillborn at Daisy Hill in February of this year his short life was forever immortalised through his mother's inspiring traversal of the 40-mile-long route from Kilkeel to Daisy Hill and back again.

Although the Graham family are still bearing the weight of the loss of their son, the Willow Bereavement Suite was the facility at Daisy Hill that enabled them to cope with the ordeal of losing a loved one in such incomprehensible circumstances, with Laura stating that the services provided by the suite enabled the Grahams to "get through the worst"

"In February this year we lost my wee boy Luca. He was still born. The Willow Bereavement Suite in Daisy Hill facilitated us and helped us get through the worst. Once we were told there was no heartbeat, we were moved across to the suite.

"We were given the privacy of being in a room on our own. In the worst situation it was nice to have this privacy as we weren't on a ward with other people. Our wee ones were able to come up and see me before I gave birth. The midwives and the sisters could not have done more for us as a family.

"This is why we came up with the idea of running to Daisy Hill and back to raise money for the Willow Bereavement Suite. With this we want to help the Willow Bereavement Suite and other families in these circumstances as best we can."

Laura is no stranger to the long and lonely path known all too well to every long-distance runner in the country, with the mother of four having competed in a myriad of different endurance events in the past including marathons in Belfast, Dublin, London and Berlin. Therefore, it was only fitting that she should commemorate the life of her beloved Luca by donning a pair of shorts and trainers and braving what proved to be the longest running route she has traversed in her life thus far.

"I have been running since my youngsters were born, but I only really started it whenever my eldest child was about five months of age. This is when I ran the Belfast Marathon and I then I got addicted to it. I have run marathons in Belfast, London, Dublin and Berlin.

"We started at 5.30am in the morning and we completed the run in 5 hours and 45 minutes. We were home before 11.30am. When we left Kilkeel it was lashing but this was a blessing as the rain made the ground a bit cooler going up through the mountains. Going up the mountains at the start wasn't as bad as coming home. By the time we went up Spelga we had 34 miles under our belt. My husband Thomas accompanied me on his bike and this nearly killed him but he said he didn't want to stop and I am so proud of him for doing this. Cycling the route was as much as a challenge as running it if not more.

"He and I ran through the mountains, up and down through Hilltown, Mayobridge and down through pass the Brass Monkey and right up to the roundabout outside Daisy Hill and this is where we turned to come back. Before this stretch the longest I had ever run was 30 miles and this was two weeks before this event. The night before the run I did feel a bit sick with nerves but I just wanted to do it. This is the way things would have always been for me before a race."

“Afterwards I felt rather good physically but not so good mentally, We haven't been near Daisy Hill since Luca. There was a squad of staff outside the hospital cheering us on.”

Although running 40 miles was a tall order Laura was determined to see Luca’s Legacy Run through to the end.

“We have dealt with worse and no matter how tough it got the run was for Luca and I would have crawled if I had too, both for Luca and for other wee ones out there. The support we have received has been really overwhelming and we cannot believe it, it was a wee bit shocking to be honest with you. The total amount donated the day before the event was £11,600 and with a street collection we generated over £3000. So I would say we have raised over £15'000 for the Willow Bereavement Suite."