A COUPLE are attempting a 'crazy' running challenge in memory of their daughter who was stillborn in hospital last year.

Cassie Wood from Grange, and her wife Claire will attempt to run the 274-kilometre 'Way of the Roses' route from Bridlington in Yorkshire to Morecambe from October 24 to October 28, to raise money for 4Louis, a charity that supports families who are dealing with child and baby deaths.

Cassie said that their main goal is to give more people access to a 'Cuddle Cot', a specialist piece of equipment that gave the couple 'precious time' with their daughter:

"Basically it keeps the baby's body cool so that you can spend some time with them.

"Usually what you could do is bathe them or dress them, but we weren't able to do that as she was so delicate and so small, but we were still able to hold her, spend time with her, and take hundreds of pictures with her.

"We can't ever have those two days with her again and we'll be forever grateful for that piece of equipment being available to us at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, but then we were really upset to hear that not every hospital has one, and in those cases, if your child is stillborn, you have a matter of hours before you have to say goodbye.

READ MORE: Concerns raised over death of care home resident, 87, who died after eating porridge

"We can't stress enough how precious that time was.

"The pregnancy wasn't easy, we were having weekly scans - we knew the outcome might not be great with the issues that we were having during the pregnancy, but we wanted to give our daughter every chance to fight.

"She just didn't quite get to the stage where the doctors could deem it safe enough to intervene and help her."

"She's not here to have a voice and make an impact in the world, and we need to do that for her."

Though they now live in Cheshire, Cassie's family and friends still live in the South Lakes, which is why they chose Morecambe as the finishing point for their epic challenge:

"I just thought, what could be more perfect than to finish in Morecambe - it's definitely a big challenge, as I've only ever done one half-marathon, and this is five ultra-marathons in five days!

"It's close to our hearts as it's somewhere that would have been a second home to our daughter.

"She'd have been up there all the time with her cousins, friends, and family."

Cassie and Claire have set a target of raising £10,000, and having already raised £3,800, they are looking for private and business sponsors to help them reach their goal.

To find out more, or to support their cause, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/wayoftherosesrun.

READ MORE: 'Legend' - Tributes paid to garden centre boss and devoted family man