March parents organise a tribute to baby Alice - a fund raising bike ride for two local children’s charities

Baby Alice Stevens (Image: Avarice Images)

The bike ride will cover three counties to raise money for the special care baby unit where Alice spent her short life and EACH, a charity that runs four children’s hospices in the region.

Rob and Zoe of Burrowmoor Road had no idea anything was wrong with their baby but at 36 weeks into the pregnancy a routine appointment found Alice was very small and surrounded by a large amount of fluid.

Zoe was given a caesarian section the next day and their tiny baby was taken immediately to the special care baby unit.

Rob, of Burrowmoor Road, said: “A couple of weeks passed with Alice making good progress, but no indication to the cause of her slow growth until blood tests were taken and the results confirmed she had Trisomy 18, known as Edwards Syndrome.

“This was quite a shock for us as Alice did not show any outward signs other than having clenched fists, which did over time start to become more relaxed.

“Coming to terms with the fact that Alice’s life was limited, we as parents tried to carry on as much as normal by visiting Alice as often as we could and trying to care for her as independently as we could by feeding her through her feeding tube with freshly expressed milk and tending to her many needs.

“Alice was a real fighter and won the hearts of many of the staff. She even had her own blog accompanied by a photo each day on Facebook and started to grow her own band of followers.

“Zoe and I would visit during the daytime and evening and Alice had many visits from friends and family whilst she was strong enough.

“During her short life, we tried to allow her to experience many things including being bathed, going for walks around the hospital with her big sister Jessie.

“In her final days, when Alice started to struggle with her breathing, we were allowed to spend time with her in the parents room where she had a few very normal days as a very normal little girl, cuddling up in bed, watching TV and having a bath before ordering pizza on the Saturday evening.

“Sadly, Alice lost her fight to survive at lunchtime on Sunday November 2 whilst being cuddled by both mummy and daddy at the tender age of 7 weeks and 2 days.”

The couple have organised the cycle marathon as a tribute to their daughter. It takes place on Saturday July 11 and will add to a total of £4,024.97 already raised.

To donate to their chosen charities, EACH and Dreamdrops, visit their website www.rideforalice.co.uk. For a donation of £25 you can place your company logo on their website.

Any shop-keepers happy to display an A4 posters contact info@rideforalice.co.uk.