I HATE THIS (a play without a baby)

I went up to stay with Libby & Ian a couple of weeks ago. She was organising a play for her locals SANDS group. It was nice to not only meet so many of the women in the group that I had helped raise money for, but also to meet the women that had been so supportive of Libby & Ian over the last year since we lost Kieran...

It was a one man play performed by David Hansen who takes us through his experience of stillbirth. David’s son Calvin was stillborn at thirty weeks, and David has found an honest, compelling, poignant and sometimes even humourus way to tell his story.

You can listen to the radio play version of the play here:
http://www.wcpn.org/an/features/2005/1125ihatethis.html

There was a lot of organising to do once I arrived so I jumped straight into action – screens to find, projectors to set up, and for Ian, many many lightbulbs to change ! We had a good turn out and Lib did a great job co-ordinating everything. I think we were all so busy setting up and meeting and greeting that we all forgot, well, I forgot, until the very last minute that actually, the content of this play was actually going to be rather difficult to watch…

I sat in the front row, arms crossed against my chest so hard that my braclet left impressions on my skin. I watched David on the stage as he openly detailed the frustration, recrimination, guilt, sorrow and ultimate acceptance of their son's death. So much of it was so similar to Libby & Ian’s story, to our story.

It was really interesting to hear it from a man’s point of view, because so often you don’t. I realised how lucky Libby is to have Ian and he her, because there are a lot of couples who don’t have that equal level of support. David’s excellent performance is honest, direct and engaging – the power of the experience is very, very real.

Today would have been Kieran’s first birthday. I think it’s important to recognise that because he will always be part of our lives...

Kieran Thomas Hughes.
Always Loved.

Never Forgotten.