A convoy of 65 brightly-lit and decorated trucks will take to the road in Leicestershire tomorrow, Saturday, December 14, in memory of a little boy whose life ended before he was born. Ernie John Harrison was delivered stillborn by emergency c-section in December 2021.
Planning their little one's funeral, his mum and dad decided it should reflect the family's trade. So, Ernie's coffin was carried on the back of his dad's truck, with his uncle at the wheel alongside Harley, the 12-year-old brother Ernie never met.
Charlotte Blakeway, 34, and 49-year-old Les Harrison - who is known by colleagues as Honky - decided to organise the first convoy last year to commemorate their little boy. Also, they wanted to raise funds for an East Midlands charity, Zephyr's, which supports them and other families who have been touched by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby or child.
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Accompanied by Santa in his sleigh, the trucks' route tomorrow will take in the family's home town Kegworth, Shepshed and Loughborough. They have invited people to come out of their homes to show their support and to donate what they can to Zephyr's.
Charlotte explained: "Our pregnancy with Ernie was a normal pregnancy. We went for a midwife check just before Christmas on the 22nd of December 2021, and they did all the checks and asked if I would like to listen to his heartbeat?
"When trying to locate his heartbeat, the midwife said that she couldn't find one and sent me straight to the hospital to have a scan. When we arrived at the hospital they got me in for a scan straight away and there was a couple of doctors looking at my scan and they said 'unfortunately we cannot find his heartbeat'.
"The staff at QMC were amazing. We had a little side room that myself and Les could stay in while we came to terms with what had happened. Also, our son Harley could come and be with us and we could explain to him too.
"Early hours in the 23rd December 2021 Ernie was born via an emergency c-section. We had time with Ernie before we were discharged on the 24th December. We met our bereavement midwife Abi, who is amazing and supports us still.
"When it came to laying Ernie to rest, his funeral procession was in the form of his daddy's truck, the truck was driven by Ernie's uncle, and Ernie's brother Harley drove with him on his final journey. We decided to do the truck run in memory of Ernie and raising money for Zephyr's to help a local charity, to raise awareness and for families to know that there is support out there."
Carly Williams, CEO of Zephyr's, joined last year's convoy and will do so again this time. She said: "The buzz of the lorries all travelling together, mixed with the lights and music, was a wonderful and heart-warming show last year.
"I'm really excited to be joining the convoy again. The support that the drivers and local residents showed to Ernie's family, and to our charity, was wonderful and means so much to us.
"Christmas can be an emotional time of year for grieving families, and we're so grateful to everyone who helps us. It
might seem like you're just throwing a few pounds into a bucket, but for us, your donations all add up, and they mean we can provide year-round care and support when bereaved parents, siblings and people touched by pregnancy and child loss need us."
The convoy will set off from the Red Lion pub, High Street, Kegworth at 3pm and will following this route:
High Street, London Road, the A6 toward Hathern, Shepshed Road, Hathern Road, Brooke Street, Britannia Street, Charnwood Road, Shepshed Fire Stations, Lambert Avenue, Glenmore Avenue, Tickow Lane, Anson Road, Charnwood Road, Ashby Road, Epinal Way, Loughborough Fire Station, Warwick Way, Derby Road and the A6 back to Kegworth.
To see the appeal, go to justgiving.com and search for truckrunforzephyrs2024.
