Welcome to Reuben’s Walkers

Charity made in memory of Reuben James Walker - 6/12/2019-7/12/2019 💙

Reuben’s Story 💙

On 6.12.2019 we brought Reuben into the world. Reuben was born with a Left Sided Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). Our care was transferred from Durham hospital to the RVI for further checks following our 19 week scan, where the diagnosis was confirmed. After weekly scans we found out that Reubens case was severe and he was only given 30% chance of survival following an MRI scan. At 28weeks we travelled to London after being referred to Kings College Hospital in hope of being accepted onto a trial for FETO where we were told after a consultation that this was not possible. At 37 weeks, Mam (April) was taken in for extra caution due to Polyhydramnios and an Induction was booked for two days later. After a 48hour labour we finally welcomed Reuben to the world. We spent all of our time on the ward with Reuben by our sides. The staff at the RVI we’re trying all they could to keep Reuben with us and he was on a machine called CPAP for the duration which effectively was doing all of the work for him to help him breathe. We were asked if we wanted to baptise Reuben whilst in the hospital so we did with our parents and siblings present. The time had come when we were told the worst news in the world which broke our hearts, Reuben isn’t going to make it. We had to then make a decision when to turn his life support off and have him in our arms for his last moments. To hold him in our arms was all we dreamt of but for him to pass away at that moment has broken our hearts forever. 

Reuben was with us for 24 hours and passed away on 7.12.2019. 

When Reuben passed away we were given memory boxes from 4Louis and Tiny Lives Trust which we will forever cherish and we are so thankful for receiving these at the hardest time of our lives. We took photos with Reuben with a member of the Neonatal team who looked after us for the duration of the afternoon with Reuben and We also spent time overnight with Reuben in a cuddle-cot which gave us that extra time with him that we thought would never have been possible to which we will treasure our whole lives. 

Charity

“We will continue to raise vital funds for 4Louis so they can continue to help families hold onto special memories the way we have when Reuben passed away” 

You can check out our website

https://www.reubenswalkers.co.uk

Or find us on Facebook and Instagram 

@reubenswalkers

We hold an annual walk from South Hetton (Reuben’s home) to the RVI with the distance ranging between 22-27miles in September and we will be completing our fourth annual walk on Saturday 30th September 2023. We are hoping for more participants and for people to join us on route at different checkpoints. Let us know if you are interested.