Katherine’s Zumbathon
After her fourth miscarriage, Katherine channelled her energy into organising a Zumbathon.
The Zumbathon united silent sufferers and started me on a long road to feeling more in control.
I’ve probably sat for 40 minutes staring at a blank screen, trying to start writing about how important it was to run my Zumbathon in aid of the Miscarriage Association.
I read a few articles in the M.A.’s Spring newsletter and so many women have been through so much worse that I wondered if my story was even worth writing. But then I thought that there was so much positivity in those articles that maybe if I got a chance to write too, I might feel more positive afterwards.
After my fourth miscarriage I felt that I was losing control of my life. We had been trying for our second child for two years and while I was in the middle of waiting for test results for various possible causes, friends around me were announcing pregnancies left right and centre. In fact, when you’re trying for a baby, it feels like the whole world’s getting pregnant. Also, people would say “At least you have your first kid” or “at least you can still have fun trying” – said, I’m sure, with good intentions but both equally inappropriate and pointless to say.
So I needed to channel my energy into something else. Hence the Zumbathon idea.
Now I needed to find an instructor to take the class and since I didn’t attend a regular Zumba class, I went online. Shahina Hanif from Sheffield replied to my plea and once she was on board, we made quite a formidable team. I went along to a couple of Shahina’s classes and knew immediately that she would get a large crowd partying. Her energy is boundless and her enthusiasm would lift spirits and turn a get-together into an event!
Fuelled by finding this muse I was approaching companies with a “don’t take no for an answer” attitude and pestered them until I got what I wanted, such as a free sports venue, free PA equipment, freebies for the raffle and refreshments for the goodie bags and lots of help from friends.
The Zumbathon was a great success and I was blown away with the donations people were making to the charity. Even more pleasing was the number of women who opened up about their own experience of miscarriage, which was one if the things I found hardest when I first suffered one – the damage felt invisible.
The Zumbathon united silent sufferers and started me on a long road to feeling more in control. I felt so proud of Shahina’s and my achievement at the end of it. Even after the event, the donations continued to come in and the final total was £1,249.
So I thank everyone who was involved from the bottom of my heart and although I can’t end this in a fairytale way by saying I’m finally pregnant again … I’m ever hopeful!
Kathryn
May 2017