Sophie Smith
In 2006 Sophie and her husband, Ash, suffered the tragic loss of their newborn triplets, who died over a three month period following their premature birth. Two months later Sophie began to train for a half marathon and raise money for the Royal Hospital for Women’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in memory of her three sons, Henry, Jasper & Evan. Sophie looked for runners to join her, and ended up with a team of 98 runners who together raised $80,000 for life-saving equipment for premature babies in the hospital’s NICU. The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation agreed to set up a permanent Trust Fund in Henry, Jasper and Evan’s names and since then Sophie has organised teams in the Sydney half marathon each year to raise much needed funds for this Trust. In the six years since the triplets’ deaths, 1100 people have run on Sophie’s teams and over $700,000 has been raised. This money has provided the NICU with ten humidicribs, ten neonatal monitors and two high frequency ventilators - equipment that is vital to the survival of premature babies just like Henry, Jasper & Evan.
http://www.runningforprematurebabies.com
Photographer: Diane Macdonald
Location: Sydney