It was as though Kathryn Lieschke and her group of bereaving mothers spoke a different dialect.
“We could say things to one another that would shock most people, but it was okay because we were all going through the same thing together.”
Mrs Lieschke, of South Morang, was 37 weeks’ pregnant when she lost son Toby in utero. She and husband Lance were inconsolable at the loss of their first child and sought solace in Sands, an Australia-wide support group for bereaved parents.
“I found it comforting that other people knew what I was going through,” Mrs Lieschke said.
Ever since the Lieschke’s midwife suggested they contact Sands that grey day Toby died, the couple’s involvement with the not-for-profit organisation has grown.
Mrs Lieschke joined the management committee and has organised numerous fund- raising events, while Lance has spoken at seminars for grieving fathers and continues to attend support meetings.
Next month, Kathryn and Lance will compete in their fourth Run Melbourne, a 10-kilometre effort to raise money for and awareness of the largely volunteer-run Sands group.
They will run in memory of Toby.
The pair hope to beat last year’s effort and raise more than $450 – and they’re contemplating upping the ante and competing in the half-marathon.
“I’m slowly building up to it,” Mrs Lieschke said.
The couple have since had two more children, two-year-old Lucas and six-month-old Neve.
