A BEREAVED father will brave a shark dive to raise awareness of the condition which took his baby daughter.
Former Rhyl man Simon Cheffings (pictured), aged 40, is raising funds and awareness to combat vasa praevia, a pregnancy complication which lead to the death of his daughter Freya just hours after her birth at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan.
Mr Cheffings said: “Well you know how when you go on holiday and you don’t want to swim in the sea due to the visions of Jaws that flash through your mind?
“Well it may not be the sea but we, myself and good friend Bo Hanyane, are going to do the unthinkable - if you knew how scared I am of sharks it most certainly is!
“I’m doing this for my beautiful daughter Freya.”
The family are planning the event in August to celebrate the first birthday of Freya, who would have been six months old at the start of February.
The baby girl suffered a haemorrhage after her umbilical cord was torn during labour, and her parents want to encourage high risk mothers to undergo a colour doppler scan to detect the problem and save lives.
Simon and his wife Sharon who now live in Holywell are raising funds for the Vasa Praevia Raising Awareness charity, which is campaigning for new clinical protocols to be put in place to protect vulnerable babies.
Mr Cheffings said: “We need to raise a minimum of £360 by March so we can book our places at the Blue Planet Aquarium. We are kindly requesting your support to help us raise funds for an amazing charity to raise awareness of vasa praevia, a devastating condition.
“It cruelly stole the life of my full term healthy baby girl just three hours and 42 minutes after her birth in August. This is a preventable tragedy because if it is diagnosed in pregnancy and a management plan is observed there is a 100 per cent survival rate.”
Mr Cheffings encouraged people to familiarise themselves with the risks and ask about vasa praevia at their antenatal appointments.
To support the family visit: www.justgiving.com/SimonandBo.