A COUPLE will embark on a ten-mile charity walk this weekend in honour of their baby daughter who died last year.

Suzanne and Peter Newman, from Leigh, were told 33 weeks into Suzanne’s pregnancy their baby would live for less than an hour after birth, due to an extremely rare kidney disease.

The couple decided not to continue with the pregnancy and in October last year Suzanne was induced at 36 weeks.

After the birth the couple stayed the night with their daughter before she was blessed the following morning.

Suzanne and Peter were given bereavement support by Havens Hospices and on Sunday will take part in the Havens to Havens fundraising walk.

Suzanne, 32, said: “We’d read books on grief and bereavement in the days after Tilly was born and although we obviously weren’t OK, we were a new kind of OK.

“My sister was expecting a baby around the same time as Tilly, and I actually had my first session on the day she gave birth so it came at a really good time for me. It worked well.

“As much as Peter and I talk, and we’re very open, it was nice to have someone completely independent.”

The couple have since undergone genetic testing for autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease and found they do not have the dominant gene and are just carriers.

Peter said: “It means that for our next pregnancy the doctors can look for it at ten to 12 weeks and determine whether the baby has it or doesn’t.

“There are lots of smaller charities supporting families like ours. The work they do seems to have a much bigger impact because it’s so personal, and it’s hit a chordwith us.”

Those wishing to take part in the walk can register on Sunday from 9.30am at Little Havens Hospice, Thundersley.

People joining in the Havens to Havens fundraising event can take part in a five or ten-mile walk through Thunders-ley’s woodlands, Hadleigh and Leigh.

Organisers will share lots of local history along the route, and there will be plenty of family fun, with activities for children and adults and cream teas at the midway point.

For more information on the walk, visit havenshospices.org.uk/havenstohavenswalk or call 01702 221669.