My name is Stacey.
Stacey and her familyIn 2013, I was beyond devastated to learn at my 12 week scan of my very first pregnancy that my baby had died about a week before and that I would need to undergo surgery. There was no reason for it; no explanation; just ‘one of those things’ I was told and I felt for a long time like my world had ended and that I had failed. It didn’t feel real. I hadn’t felt any pain, no physical changes to indicate anything was wrong. Nothing. I felt such guilt and apologised to my husband constantly for losing our baby and continually questioned why I wasn’t able to do the one thing a woman should be able to do. I was fit, healthy, young and happy. Even to this day, and now having two beautiful sons (Evan who turned 3 in July and Raife who turned 1 in May) who I adore, I still feel guilty and I still cry at the loss of my first baby wondering what he or she would have looked like and where that little life would have developed to.
Unfortunately, I know far too many women who have suffered the same tragedy, who have lost a baby in much later stages after premature births and others who are still struggling with fertility issues and desperate to conceive; to see those two little lines.
Stacey and Rebby trainingMy cycling buddy, Rebby Mardon, and I met when she started coming to my fitness classes about 11 years ago now and we definitely struck up a friendship for life. Rebby was a massive support to me during the loss of my baby and continues to be an amazing friend. Her partner, Ben Homer, who is also a great friend of mine is a very keen cyclist too and he has been incredible with his training knowledge and pushing us along. We train most weekends cycling from our homes and also in the New Forest which we are lucky enough to have on our doorstep. We’ve held a barn dance to raise funds as well as numerous quiz nights together with a few car boot sales and spinning at the Southampton Go Outdoors store. My husband, Graham Lewis, alongside his 5 day working week cares for our little boys even more than usual to allow me to train for this event and his love and support is never-ending and I would be lost without him.
This charity is so so close to my heart and the work and research being conducted by Genesis is just incredible. By taking part in Cycle Cuba 2017 and the funds we’ll raise I hope we can start to find cures and explanations for these life altering events. This is going to be such a tough physical challenge, that goes without saying, but leaving my husband and two young sons for over a week is also going to test me to my limits and there will be a lot of tears shed, but I can’t wait!!
To help Stacey and Rebby hit their target, click on their picture above to go to their JustGiving Page