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My Plea:

I’ve always known that I ‘married a good one’ my husband is one of those people who will do anything for anyone and has an ability to see the positive in absolutely everything. Seriously. He’s like Bert from Mary Poppins if Bert worked in an office and had a nerdy tendency towards all things data. As a husband and father he has unquestionaly put every part of himself into building a marriage then building a family together.

But last year our family received the most devastating news of our lives. At 32 weeks pregnant with our second son we were told that his heart had stopped beating.

I cannot imagine how difficult it was for him during the 6 days it took for our Thomas to be born sleeping. I was beside myself with grief and abstract horror at what had happened to our family. I could see that for the first time in our relationship he felt broken. Somehow in this time he managed to offer me utterly selfless, unwavering support while finding the strength to take care of all practical matters for our family.

In the months following Thomas’s death through the devastation and loss he inspired fundraising of over £4000 for a charity to help families like ours. He continued to support this charity by recording his feelings from a lesser heard father’s perspective which helped to secure further grant funding.

He continued to give loss fathers a voice when he attended a babyloss group and shared his feelings in the hope that it would help others to understand how grief can be difficult in different ways for fathers and inspire ways for couples to continue to communicate and support eachother.

My husband inspires me daily through his courage and empathy. He inspires our friends and family and strives for positivity through fundraising to help others. He offers inspiration to other families who have experienced the loss of a baby by sharing his experiences and pain with them. He is so utterly deserving of his nomination and shortlisting for the category of Inspirational Father at this years Butterfly Awards, please do him the honour of your vote.

What others have said:

“Andrew is amazing Daddy to William, Baby Thomas and George. From the very first meeting with this beautiful family, I have been struck by Andrew’s gentleness. He is able to articulate, with such honesty, his own experiences. He has been such a support to his wife, showing understanding and acceptance of her own feelings and needs. I recently had the honour of supporting Andy and Vicky during the pregnancy, labour and birth as they welcomed their rainbow baby George to the world. I’m not sure I have ever before witnessed such love and dedication.”