Midwife's fundraiser skydive for baby loss charity
Julie Key aims to raise £470 for the SANDS charity, but says she would "love to raise much more"
- Published
A hospital midwife from Bradford has said she plans to take part in a skydive to raise funds for a stillbirth and neonatal death charity.
Julie Key said she would leap out of a plane in the skies over Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria, with the aim of raising at least £470 for the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS).
Ms Key, 59, who works at Bradford Royal Infirmary, has been a bereavement support midwife for 18 years.
She said she would carry out the jump just a few days before her 60th birthday, and joked she was not sure if she was "brave or stupid".
Ms Key said she would be joined in the tandem skydive on 11 September by her partner and some of the families she had supported over the years.
She explained her links with hospitals in Bradford went back a long way.
“I have been a Type 1 diabetic for 47 years and was diagnosed aged 12 at St Luke’s [Hospital] where I spent a month. It was while a patient I decided I wanted to be a nurse," she said.
“Through the ups and downs of living with diabetes, I thought it was time to do something to mark my life and raise money for a charity close to my heart, which is how the skydive evolved," she added.
Ms Key is a bereavement support midwife at Bradford Royal Infirmary
The SANDS charity, for which Ms Key's skydive will raise money, helps the maternity unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
It gives a free memory box to every bereaved family so they are able to create and save their own memories of their baby.
According to the charity, about 13 babies die shortly before, during or soon after birth every day in the UK.
Ms Key said: "All midwives are in an incredibly privileged position in joining women and their families in what can be one of the most exciting and joyful times in their lives.
"However, not every baby comes home - and some parents are left with empty arms.
"SANDS exists to reduce the number of babies dying and to ensure anyone affected by the death of a baby receives the best possible care."
The skydive in September was "my way of showing my support for this incredible charity", she said.
"I need to raise £470, but I would love to raise much more."
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