Bereaved father’s marathon challenge

Paul Woods, of Rothwell, Leeds is raising money for Sands, the stillbirth and neo-natal death charity.

He is running in memory of his four children – Liam, who was stillborn at 24 weeks in 1989; Nathan, who was stillborn in 1992 at 40 weeks; and twins, Nicola and Natalie, who were born in 1993 but tragically died a month later.

Paul, 47, said: “Thanks to Sands my children are buried in a communal grave at Harehills Cemetery, Leeds.

“Sands helped us so much at such a devastating time in our lives.”

Paul now has a young son, Callum, four.

The marathon on Sunday April 17 will be his second London marathon.

“I am aiming to raise as much as possible for Sands, which supports anyone affected by the death of a baby and promotes research to reduce the loss of babies’ lives,” he said.

“The scary thing is, every day in the UK 17 babies are stillborn or die in the first few weeks.”

Find out more at www.uk-sands.org