Callum and Natalie Price, both 31 and from south-east London, lost their unborn son Leo when Natalie was 33 weeks pregnant. Doctors discovered he had brain abnormalities that were incompatible with life, and Natalie gave birth to her stillborn son on November 5, 2025.
Callum said that "everything just fell apart" during this "horrendous" period, but support from loved ones and charities such as Sands helped them deal with the pain.
Fundraising for Sands in Leo's honour
In Leo's honour, Callum is running the Oysho Royal Parks Half Marathon in London on Sunday, October 11, and has already raised more than £6,000 for Sands, which will help fund services and research.
"It's wonderful for a number of reasons," Callum told PA Real Life of the money he has already raised for Sands, "The biggest one is that it sort of feels like something that Leo's done. It sort of feels like it's value that he's added to the world. It's like he did exist, he was there, he was our son, and he's made this happen. He's made the world a better place."
From school sweethearts to heartbreaking loss
Callum and Natalie, who are originally from Newcastle upon Tyne, met at school and have been together since they were 15 years old. Natalie became pregnant with Leo in early 2025, with their baby boy due around Christmas, but Natalie's 20-week scan in August revealed the first sign that something was wrong with his development.
The scan showed some physiological problems, including clubbed feet – a birth defect where a baby's foot is turned inward and downward – but Callum said that "at that point, we didn't have any idea as to what the scale of those problems were".
Weeks of tests followed, and by early November, when Natalie was 33 weeks pregnant, she had an MRI scan to further investigate what might be wrong with their baby. The MRI scan revealed severe brain abnormalities, which were incompatible with life.
"Everything just fell apart for us, really," Callum said. Shortly thereafter, Natalie's labour was induced, and the following day she gave birth to Leo, who was stillborn. "I'm sure you can imagine how horrible that is," Callum said, "It's just horrendous."
Support from hospital staff and Sands
In the hours and days that followed, Callum and Natalie were grateful to receive an outpouring of support from family, friends and hospital staff.
"The bereavement midwife, the medical team at King's College Hospital, the midwives who delivered Leo, who looked after us in those immediate hours and days were just all so lovely, dealt with it so well and just held our hands through all of it when we didn't know what was up and down," Callum said.
"The support takes different shapes immediately," he added, "It's logistical, then it's being there, then it's emotional. We've just been supported so well by everybody."
In the immediate aftermath of Leo's delivery, Callum and Natalie were handed a leaflet about Sands, the pregnancy and baby loss charity which supports those affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. The leaflet contained information about resources available to them, both logistical and emotional, as well as support groups they could join to connect with other people going through loss and grief.
Callum said Natalie joined a number of online support groups, which she found immensely helpful as she navigated her grief, while he began attending sessions with the Sands United football team – "a group of bereaved dads who play football once every other week" with sessions held across the country.
In early 2026, Callum went to his first Sands United session in Kent, and he said it has been "an unbelievable source of comfort and support for me".
"Going and socialising over something like playing football and then talking on the sidelines is much more my speed," he said. "The football is... I'm not very good, to put it mildly! But I'm not really there for the football. I'm there to have the conversations with the blokes who've been through it all and can understand what you're going through."
Running to cope with grief
Sands also works to improve maternity and bereavement care, to improve research into why babies are dying, and to reduce inequalities in healthcare, and Callum said all of these causes became very close to his heart.
In the throes of grief, Callum turned to running as a way to "help my mental health, start shaking off the grief". He has never been a runner, but found the pastime to be an enormous help while dealing with the loss of Leo, so signing up to the Oysho Royal Parks Half Marathon to fundraise for Sands felt like a natural next step.
On Sunday, October 11 Callum and three of his friends – who were best man and groomsmen at his wedding – will tackle the 13.1 mile route around London's Royal Parks. So far, they have raised more than £6,000 for Sands through sponsorship, which he said is "unbelievable, it's amazing, it's beyond words".
To other parents battling grief after the loss of a baby, Callum said: "You're not alone, and there is support out there, and just go and get it."
"Don't try to be a martyr. Don't try and bear it all," he added, "I think mums and dads go through this differently, and for dads there can be, I think, a bit of an expectation – there never was for me, I should say – that the dad bears more of the pain. Don't let that mean that you can't go and get support yourself... There's no medals for getting through this by yourself. It is awful. Nobody would say otherwise. So just go and get that help, that support, however it looks for you. Don't hesitate about that, for sure."
To donate to Callum's fundraiser, visit justgiving.com/page/leosrun. For more information and support around pregnancy and baby loss, visit sands.org.uk.
