Sarah's Story
I first found out about The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust as I was sitting in my hospital bed waiting for my surgery when I came across their website. I was reading up as much as I could on ectopic pregnancies to find out what was happening to me.
I found the website really informative. Sitting in my hospital bed, I needed facts. Later on, post-surgery, I would read the Personal Stories section. I found it cathartic to read about other people’s experiences and to validate the ugly feelings I was having.
I have also joined a Zoom group session which I found particularly helpful. At the time, I didn’t know anyone who had gone through an ectopic pregnancy and felt very alone, even more so because of the Covid lockdowns. Speaking to people via the magic of a video call helped me make sense of the feelings I was experiencing.
I was supposed to run the Vitality London 10,000 back in 2020 but the pandemic hit. By the time the race was back on, I was one year into the loss of my pregnancy and my Fallopian tube. I was changed forever. Since the loss, we had been trying unsuccessfully and, six weeks before the race, I decided to train. At the time, I had a huge mental health dip and getting motivated was hard but I always felt a lot better after my runs. I felt a sense of achievement getting out and completing some training.
I still didn’t know if I was going to do it because I still had some hope I would be pregnant, but I took a test a week before the race and it came back negative. That’s when I knew I was going to run this race and I was going to raise money for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. I needed to do something and I wanted to give something back. I wanted to help other people like me.
I’ve done races before and I loved the buzz of the day. The Vitality London was exactly that but this was even more special because I was doing this in memory of the baby that I lost, raising money for a charity that is close to my heart, in a city that I know and love. Every kilometre or so, there was music from a choir, drums, or blasting out of a sound system! The last three kilometres felt a lot longer and I was thrilled to finally cross the finish line!
If you are inspired by Sarah’s fantastic run and would like to raise funds and awareness for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, please visit our fundraising page.