Grantham father to take on Tough Mudder at Belvoir Castle to raise money for 4Louis in memory of son Jude

A father is taking on a muddy challenge in memory of his son who was stillborn earlier this year.

Dave Evans, from Grantham, and his partner Kelly Fitt sadly lost their son Jude on April 10, who was stillborn.

In Jude’s memory and to raise money for 4Louis - a charity that supports families with child loss - Dave is taking part in Tough Mudder on Saturday (July 6) at Belvoir Castle.

“He looked perfect when he was born - I want to make him proud and it will make me feel close to him,” said Dave, who works at Parker in Grantham on hydraulic valves.

He added: “4Louis, they basically do memory boxes and it includes stuff you wouldn’t normally think about because it is so quick.

“Kelly still carries around a teddy that Jude had, but there are other things like a lock of his hair you wouldn’t think about.

“They are an amazing charity. I’m raising money for them to give more families these memory boxes.”

On the day Jude was born, Kelly called Dave at work complaining of a headache after their son Harley, 19 months, had been up all night with a bad head.

She later got further pain and an ambulance was called. A midwife arrived and she could not hear the baby’s heartbeat, so Kelly was rushed to Lincoln Hospital. She was 39 weeks pregnant.

“When I got there, Kelly was really quiet. It was the midwife we had from the start that said Jude was gone,” said Dave.

It was also touch and go for Kelly after her placenta erupted, leaving her in intensive care for four days.

After the couple’s devastating loss, they learned about 4Louis which helped them to create a memory box for Jude. It included a lock of his hair, foot and handprints and a teddy bear.

To raise money for the charity, Dave will take on the 5km Tough Mudder challenge and tackle 12 obstacles along the course.

Dave said: “I don’t think I will ever be ready for it but I am looking forward to it.

“My mother-in-law said will I be OK and I said ‘yes because Jude is with me’.”

Not only does Dave want to raise money for 4Louis, he also hopes to raise awareness of the charity.

He added: “Nothing ever prepares you for this kind of scenario. It’s a taboo subject because when you are going through a pregnancy, you don’t expect this.

“What happened to Kelly we were told happens to less than 1% of people.

“One thing we found is there was not a lot of help out there for families like us.

“As a dad you only get two weeks off, but I had six weeks in the end as I could not face it.

“There is also no financial support. With the memory box, it has been especially good for Kelly.

“I just want to give something back to something that helped us.”

Anyone who wishes to donate to Dave’s fundraiser can at https://4louis.enthuse.com/pf/david-evans.

Send your charity news to news@lincsonline.co.uk.