A dad has spoken out about his experiences of grief after losing his baby girl.
Ben Moorhouse, 40, will be walking from Edinburgh Castle to Manchester in honour of his daughter, Kallipateira, who was tragically stillborn at 37 weeks in October 2018.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, the dad-of-two opened up and admitted he cries every day for his loss.
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"Men are treated differently when it comes to stillbirths. In my experience, men are thought to have to be the strong ones, never cry...but I cry every day for Kallipateira," he said.
Ben lives in Halifax with his partner Gaynor Thompson and their three-year-old son Apollon. He added: "Some people look at my son and think he's replaced her, but he hasn't. Our daughter is still very much a part of our lives.
"I think stillbirths are still a taboo subject. Not many people know how to talk about it. They cross the street and avoid you. But even just a smile, pat on the shoulder would do.
"I want to say to men who are going through it, 'Don't hide in the shadows and it's okay to open up about how you're feeling'".
Speaking about Gaynor's pregnancy with Kallipateira, Ben, who works full-time for a housing association, said that they were told that there was nothing wrong throughout the months.
"We were asked to come in for the regular checkups and were told it was fine. But a week later, we got the devastating news that her heart had stopped beating.
"Suddenly our lives turned upside down and the trauma of it doesn't go away overnight."
Following the death of their daughter and a miscarriage in 2019, the couple launched their own charity, The Kallipateira Moorhouse Foundation, to help save babies' lives through research and support other parents who have experienced loss.
Following the stillbirth of their daughter and miscarriage they turned to Professor Alexander Heazell of Tommy’s rainbow clinic and Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre in Manchester.
On May 23, 2020, gave birth to their Rainbow baby boy Apollon in Manchester.
To help raise money for Professor Heazell's research, Ben will be taking on an extreme challenge where he will walk from Edinburgh Castle to Manchester on July 15. The walk will be a staggering 206 miles and Ben says he will do it nonstop with no sleep, day and night to complete it in a time of 68 hours or less.
Ben is no stranger to extreme challenges after he walked from London to Manchester during the heatwave in 2022, and he reckons this is the biggest one yet.
He added: "This for Kallipateira. It's her legacy and The Kallipateira Moorhouse Foundation is a promise I made her. I want to raise awareness of stillborns and help other parents too."
Gaynor and a support team will be at Edinburgh Castle from 7am to cheer Ben off and he hopes to see locals supporting his latest trek.
Ben can be supported at Just Giving.
