9th Annual Walk to be Held October 3 at Grotto Ministry Center

On October 3, San Antonians will gather for the ninth annual San Antonio Walk to Remember, an event remembering the babies who die each year through pregnancy loss, stillbirth or neonatal death. The Walk to Remember gives families the opportunity to grieve and gain closure. It also helps women who have not been able to deal with their grief—sometimes for years—begin to heal.

The event will be held at the Grotto Ministry Center, 5712 Blanco Road. Registration is at 9 a.m. with the remembrance ceremony at 10 a.m. The ceremony includes a brief service of prayer, song and sharing followed by a reflective stroll through the grounds of the Oblate Center. The program also includes the dedication of a memorial tree. The event is open to the public free of charge and will be held rain or shine.

The Methodist Healthcare Perinatal Bereavement Committee founded the event. Co-sponsors are Threads of Love/Sarah Chapter, Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network and Artiquity.

STORY IDEA

Grace Dorsey, a nurse in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Methodist Children’s Hospital has special empathy for mothers who have lost infant children, since she lost a son in July 2008. When Dorsey remarried six years ago, both she and her husband brought four children into the marriage. With only one of those children still at home, they decided to have a child of their own. In fact, Dorsey wanted a child so much that she went through a procedure to reverse her tubal ligation. Entering the fifth month of her pregnancy, Dorsey lost her baby. A cyst growing on the back of the baby’s neck had stopped blood flow which resulted in his death. She went through with the delivery and then had their son cremated.

“I work with some fabulous people who helped me through it,” she said. They provided me with reading material and I wrote poetry. At the walk last year, I recited one of my poems. It helped me connect with the others there.”

Dorsey says that she now better understands the feelings of families in the NICU who lose infants. “Until you have gone through it yourself, it’s difficult to imagine the pain,” she said. “It is such a great loss…the anticipation, the dreams and plans. It is so devastating for the couple and their family.” For Dorsey, even her sons were affected. One of them, aged 16 at the time, had built a baby changing table for her by hand.

With advance notice, we can arrange for an interview with Dorsey, who is willing to talk about her loss and how it has helped her relate to families in the NICU. She has a heart-shaped urn with her son’s remains and her poetry that she is willing to share.

If you are interested in doing a story, please phone Shirley Wills at 822-2378 or 365-4488 (cell) or JoAnn King, 575-0171. For media assistance during the weekend and after hours Monday through Friday, please phone Methodist Hospital, 575-4000, and ask for the public relations representative on call.