A young mum is raising awareness of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome following the devastating passing of her baby boy.
Hollie Davis, who lives in Tidworth, lost her only son Kitt at just 20 weeks old during a holiday to Greece.
The 30-year-old put her baby to sleep on the night of August 20. The next morning he was dead.
Kitt, who was born on April 3 at Salisbury District Hospital, had no health issues.
Hollie, a serving soldier, said: "He was absolutely fine, he was born average weight, exclusively breastfed, he was putting on loads of weight.
"Last month I took him on holiday to Corfu, I did the same thing I did every night, fed him, put him into bed. He woke up in the early hours of the morning for a feed, I breastfed him, put him back down, I woke up at 7 o'clock and he was dead.
"We did CPR, we rang an ambulance, did all the stuff you should do but in my heart I knew he was dead."
Before the actual cause of death was revealed through a post-mortem examination, Hollie says she blamed herself, thinking there was something she had done wrong.
However, when the results came back, it became obvious that that wasn't the case.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is described as the sudden and unexplained death of a baby younger than one year old. Its cause cannot be determined.
Hollie added: "I didn't know what it was, I'd never really heard of it, but since coming back to the UK and speaking to people, I know of five people whose family members have been affected.
"The Lullaby Trust have been so helpful, they've provided me with a befriender, somebody to talk to who's experienced the loss of a child, and I just want to raise awareness and get people to support them."
To do this, Hollie has decided to run 20km for 10 days starting from September 17.
The number 20 represents Kitt's age and the distance she will cover, 200km, is the number of babies who passed away to SIDS in the UK in 2018, according to the charity's latest research.
"I will start at my house and finish at Kitt's tree in Cholderton (where his ashes were planted).
"Kitt loved being outdoors, he was a nature baby so it made sense to do it wherever he was most happy."
The upcoming challenge and the kind messages of support she received are keeping Hollie going.
So far, she has raised an amazing £3,200 and looks set to hit her target of £5,000.
To donate to the cause visit https://bit.ly/3ivnFpa
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel