Halifax extreme challenger Ben Moorhouse to walk non-stop from Edinburgh to Manchester to support research into preventing stillbirths

In October 2018, Ben’s daughter Kallipateira was stillborn at 38 weeks of pregnancy in Calderdale and Ben and his partner Gaynor then experienced a miscarriage in May 2019 at nine weeks of pregnancy. Kallipateira’s death was fully preventable.

Ben and Gaynor launched their own charity to help save babies lives through research and support other parents who have experienced the death of a baby.

Following the stillbirth of their daughter and miscarriage they knew if they wanted to have the best chance of another child with a better outcome, they must be cared for by Professor Alexander Heazell of the Tommy’s Rainbow Clinic and Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre in Manchester.

On May 23, 2020, Gaynor gave birth to their rainbow baby boy Apollon in Manchester.

Apollon survived due to the love and specialist care from Professor Heazell and his team. The full pregnancy was a kept a secret from family and friends.

To help save babies lives nationally in the UK Professor Heazell and his team are now the main beneficiary of The Kallipateira Moorhouse Foundation.

On July 16, 2022, Ben, along with his support team, successfully walked non-stop from London to Manchester, which was a total of 180 miles, in just 55 hours. Not only did Ben complete this but he did it during the record-breaking UK heatwave with the roads melting from underneath him.

On July 15, 2023, Ben will now push limits even further when he will take on his biggest extreme challenge yet and will walk from the Scottish capital of Edinburgh to Tommy’s Rainbow Clinic and Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Manchester.

Along with his support team Ben will start from Edinburgh Castle and will walk the 206 miles non-stop and with no sleep day and night to Manchester in a time of 68 hours or less. Ben has set himself a target of £10,000 with all funds going direct to Professor Heazell and his team to support research to help save babies lives.

Ben said: “Every day in the UK there are on average seven babies stillborn and many of these deaths could have been prevented.

"These are beautiful fully developed babies who should be alive. As a grieving dad who each day feels the pain of Kallipateira's devastating death, I must now push limits

even further and raise more vital funds for Professor Heazell and his team to support research so that other families nationally don’t have to experience the pain that we do every day.

"The biggest challenge I face is not the walk but raising the money because baby death is what I call the world’s biggest phobia – when most people hear about it, they will cross the street, turn the page or change the channel over.

"I am prepared to put myself through the mill again with next year’s extreme challenge for everyone’s families, but I really do need everyone’s support.

"I would like to ask the media and public to please support me in my quest to raise as much as possible to help save babies lives nationally.”

Professor Alexander Heazell, Director of the Tommy's Stillbirth Research Centre said: “Last year it was my privilege to walk with Ben for the last 21 miles of his amazing long-distance walk from London to the Tommy’s Manchester Stillbirth Research Centre.

"His achievement was amazing, and we are so grateful for the Kallipateira Moorhouse Foundation for their ongoing support in our research, their funding has enabled us to investigate partner’s needs in pregnancy after loss and to develop specialist information for women who don’t use English as their first language.

"I am looking forward to walking with Ben on this Bigger and Braver walk, he deserves so much support for his effort in memory of his daughter.”

Ben can be supported at http://www.justgiving.com/manchester206.

Bens Official Extreme Challenge Launch video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/_fXjpC-NSYg.