A mum who has been left “shattered” by the death of her five-year-old son from a cardiac arrest while on holiday will take part in a charity marathon in memory of him.
Luke and Catherine Blodwell, from Faringdon, were on holiday in Magaluf with their son Noah when he suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of an underlying and unknown health condition.
The young boy told his parents he had a sore stomach before he vomited and collapsed, suffering the arrest at the four-star Sol Barbados Hotel.
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The passing of their son came just seven weeks the birth of the pair’s second child.
Mrs Blodwell, a district nurse from Faringdon, will now take part in the Royal Parks Marathon to raise money for The Compassionate Friends Charity, who offered support and care after Noah’s death.
The 36-year-old said her son is “‘missed by so many people who just absolutely loved him”.
“He had a wicked sense of humour and had so many friends at school, which he also happened to love”, she said.
The impact of Noah’s sudden death on Mrs Blodwell has been “incredibly hard and incredibly painful”.
She needed therapy in order to come to terms with her loss and PTSD with came with it.
Mrs Blodwell explained: “I don’t feel as though I’ve got much strength, to be honest, but I wouldn’t be here without the support of my closest friends and family.
“I’m slowly starting to learn to adapt my life without Noah here - life will never be the same again, but you have to learn to live with grief and take each day minute by minute, hour by hour.”
Following her family’s experience, she now wants to raise awareness and show support for The Compassionate Friends Charity - an organisation for bereaved parents, siblings, and grandparents who have suffered the loss of a young child.
“I want to show that grief is not a taboo that you should shy away from. It needs to be spoken about because the reality is that young children do sometimes die - it’s not the natural order of life, but it happens and we need to be looked after when it does.
“If I can spread the word and help normalise grief, offering support to other parents and give them some kind of hope, then it’s something I need to do. Our family has been shattered, but my child’s memory will live on forever - this is an experience that bereaved parents need to share”.
It was during the pandemic that the mum began running, as a way to clear her head and cope with her anxiety.
“I needed a way to distract myself from the fear and anxiety that was taking over me - I began to run and see how fast or how far I could go.’
“Me and my friend Lindsay had been running together for a while and decided to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon on behalf of The Compassionate Friends - we’d been considering it for a while and thought now was the right time to take part and raise money in Noah’s memory in the process.
“I just want to raise as much money as I can for The Compassionate Friends Charity - that’ll be such a huge achievement for me. So far I’ve raised £1,300, but I’d absolutely love to raise over £2,000. With a few weeks to go, I’ll just keep campaigning as much as I can until race-day”.
To donate to Mrs Blodwell’s cause, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/catherine-blodwell
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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.
You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk
Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry
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