A Brookswood mom who organized a walk for mothers who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss said the response to the first annual shows how many people have been touched by the tragic loss of an child.
鈥淲e鈥檙e sold out,鈥� Lockhart said.
鈥淲e have surpassed all of our expectations.鈥�
More than 500 people have signed up for the Saturday, Oct. 5, 5K and 2K memorial run and walk along the South False Creek seawall in Vancouver.
That鈥檚 as much as the starting point, the False Creek Community Centre, can accommodate.
鈥淚 think that this loss community is a lot bigger than it is spoken about,鈥� Lockhart commented.
Butterfly run is still accepting donations for BC Women鈥檚 Hospital, Lockhart added.
Next year, she think the run may have to find a new home with more room.
Lockhart鈥檚 son, Wilder, was stillborn at 40 weeks and five days in September 2017.
Lockhart hopes to keep Wilder鈥檚 memory alive by raising awareness about pregnancy and infant loss, as well as supporting other families facing the same bereavement.
His brother and sister, Paisley and Barrett, helped raise funds for the event by collecting bottles in the weeks leading up to the run.
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After her loss, Lockhart searched to see if there was a memorial walk in the Vancouver area. There wasn鈥檛.
Her hunt led her to eastern Canada and the organizers of the Ottawa butterfly run, who agreed to provide advice and support to help Lockhart with the event planning started.
An estimated one in four women will experience miscarriage or pregnancy loss (also known as perinatal loss).
Butterfly was chosen as the name for the event because of the purple butterfly many maternity wards will tape to a door when a family experiences the loss of a baby, so staff entering the room know.
It aims to raise awareness around 鈥媝regnancy loss, child loss, pregnancy after loss, and infertility, to offer support and compassion for those who鈥檝e experienced such losses, provide funds for BC Women鈥檚 Hospital and help honour the memory of the children.
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