BABY STEPS TO SOLVE SIDS RIDDLE
A GRASSROOTS campaign by grieving parents is propelling world-leading research on finding the cause of and cure for sudden infant death syndrome, which still claims an average of 120 Australian babies a year.
Geelong couple Alex Hamilton and Karl Waddell, who lost their four-month-old son, River, in 2012, have raised $330,000 to set up Australia’s first laboratory dedicated to SIDS research, at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. And now, as River’s Gift prepares to send its second PhD student to the US to train at Boston Children’s Hospital for six months, they are uniting with other Australian families to fund more research.
Brisbane couple Kate and Peter Wright, who lost five-month-old daughter, Bella, 18 months ago, are the first family to join the River’s Gift Unite SOS campaign.
They raised more than $7000 from a barefoot bowling event this month, which will go to the laboratory.