Story

Seven years ago, Gillian and I lost a huge part of ourselves and our family when our little boy, Aidan, died three weeks after his third birthday.

Aidan’s death was a complete surprise because Aidan was a healthy and vibrant little boy but he had contracted the flu which degraded into pneumonia. Aidan ended up in hospital and despite everyone thinking he was improving he collapsed unexpectedly. I was in the hospital at the time and it was the most helpless I have ever felt.

The immediate period after Aidan’s death was by far the hardest thing I have ever experienced. It felt like the whole world had stopped and what hurt the most was that initially, I could not feel a thing. Everything was just empty and I was numb to all emotions.

Gillian and I struggled at first but we knew we had to get back up again. We had to do it for each other and most importantly, we had to do it for our six year old son, Samuel.

At the time, Gillian and I didn’t really know how to deal with or accept our new reality but we received support from so many people and some great organisations. A lot of the credit for our recovery really must go to those that helped us and my family is forever grateful for the support we received.

One group and community that really helped us immensely was the Sydney2CAMberra riding group. Ever since Aidan’s death I have ridden from Sydney to CAMberra to do something positive for my son Aidan. It also gives us the ability to try to raise funds for these organisations so they can continue to support others that have been affected by the loss of a child.

Because of COVID restrictions, this year will be a little different. Instead of riding to CAMberra as a group, all the riders will be riding the 300km around their local area over the next week. Now although I won’t have the opportunity to support and be supported by the other riders, I will still be able to ride and be able hold Aidan close to me in my heart as I ride.

As I do ride a few kilometres next week, I’d really appreciate your support by contributing to my fundraising and helping me make a difference to lives of families who have lost a child.

Finally, if this story isn’t enough to motivate you to donate, then maybe you’d like to have a bit of fun, because I will commit to riding 10 kms on Aidan’s tiny bike for every $1,000 I raise of my $5,000 target. So if you want to watch me make a fool of myself and probably generate a bit of business for my local healthcare providers, then please donate.