Halifax dad finishes 206-mile walk for stillbirth research

Ben Moorhouse said the non-stop 206-mile walk was made more "brutal" by having to contend with a lack of sleep

A father whose daughter died two weeks before she was due to be born has walked 206 miles (331km) in 59 hours to raise awareness of stillborn babies.

Ben Moorhouse, from Halifax, completed the non-stop trek from Edinburgh to Manchester on Monday.

Mr Moorhouse and his partner Gaynor Thompson's first child, Kallipateira, was stillborn on 26 October 2018.

They are fundraising for Manchester's Rainbow Clinic, which supports pregnancies after the loss of a baby.

His journey started from Edinburgh Castle

The 40-year-old started his journey from Edinburgh Castle at 07:00 BST on Saturday and finished at Saint Mary's Hospital in Manchester at about 18:30 on Monday.

He said: "I'm extremely proud of the achievement. It was a unbelievable challenge what with the constant torrential downpours and the flash floods through the Scottish mountains.

"It was very, very emotional all the way. Our daughter is the biggest motivation as to why I am prepared to put my body and mind through this to help other parents.

"This extreme challenge was brutal and to do it non-stop as well with no sleep and overnight stays was so difficult."

Mr Moorhouse said he had raised £4,200 for the Rainbow Clinic.

The couple's son was born at the clinic for which they are raising funds

He praised the clinic, which is researching the causes and prevention of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, for supporting his partner through "a rare placenta problem" during her pregnancy and the birth of their son, Apollon, in May 2020.

"The team in Manchester do a fantastic job in research with regards to stillbirths and they are saving so many babies' lives. If it wasn't for [them] our son would have died and that's a fact.

"I've been doing [fundraising] for a number of years now. I think the subject of stillbirths is the world's biggest taboo.

"There is Baby Loss Awareness Week but there's still not enough people speaking about what is going on in the UK and worldwide. So we must continue to push the awareness and hopefully by doing so we will help to save babies lives."

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