Breaking the silence

“I’m not running to be seen, I’m running to be heard.”

That was the simple mantra for Michelle McCranor as she embarked on her Stillrunning for Still Birth and while her November run from Adelaide to Melbourne has been devastatingly cut short, she has certainly achieved that goal of shining alight on still birth – the need for more research into the causes and the need for more support for families who suffer the life changing loss.

Michelle shared her message in this region over the past week, leaving Mount Gambier last Sunday morning and making her way through South West Victoria but a serious injury has stymied her campaign and husband Tim McCranor updated those following Michelle’s journey late Tuesday night.

“Stillrunning was always about giving stillbirth a voice and the run was just the platform,” Tim posted.

“Whilst Melbourne was the goal we need to ensure Michelle is healthy and does not sustain any permanent damage.

“At the end of the day, yesterday as you may have seen Michelle was in excruciating pain. Even with the usual recovery this did not subside and Michelle was unable to sleep.

“Michelle had a chat with the team this morning and decided it was best to head to Warrnambool hospital to see what may be causing the pain. Within a couple of hours she had been given pain relief, an x-ray and MRI thanks to the lovely team – a few of which who knew about Michelles run and wanted to help.

“Unfortunately it was confirmed that Michelle has completely torn her anterior talofibular ligament from its fibular attachment. It’s not the news she was hoping for but after yesterday she was not surprised that she walked out of hospital in a moonboot and crutches.

“With all of this in mind, Michelle has made the incredibly hard decision to stop running. This is devastating for her and she is struggling to process that this is the end of her run.

“To date, Michelle has run 569km over 11 days and across two states. She’s faced physical and mental battles yet stayed positive and smiling throughout it all and has raised over $80,000 to date.

“Michelle has been training since January and has put her heart and soul into trying to make a difference for a cause that is grossly kept quiet.

“Thank you to everyone who has supported, had faith and believed in Michelle so far. She is incredibly grateful and see’s every single like, comment, message, share and donation.”

A new plan will be put in place but even when Michelle first left Seacliff on November 1, she had already made an impact.

South Australian Minister for Health Chris Picton was there to farewell the runner and also share the news that Member for Newland Olivia Savvas had successfully moved a motion to establish a parliamentary inquiry to examine the prevalence, causes and effects of stillbirth and how to enhance support.

That was positive news before Michelle event took one stride on her proposed 20 day journey.

MICHELLE’S STORY

“On August 9, 2001, with my husband Tim by my side our baby girl Celeste was born sleeping after a 14 hour labour. She looked perfect but in that very moment all of our hopes and dreams for our baby were gone. We would not be going home with our daughter, instead we would be arranging a funeral.

“We had no idea until this moment what Stillbirth even was, we understood miscarriage as we are all warned about the risks of this in the first few months, but no one talks about the statistics of Stillbirth or the preventable measures that could help save the life of your baby. Why, because honestly who wants to even think about their pregnancy not ending with a living baby in their arms.

“Unfortunately I had a blood clotting condition, that only appears when I am pregnant. My little girl was not getting all the nutrients she needed to thrive and put weight on. She was born looking perfect but her heart could just not beat strong enough to survive coming into this world.”

PHOTO BY FRANK MONGER