A brave Motherwell woman has faced her fears head on and swam with sharks in memory of her son.
Terrified Amanda Bryce took on the challenge at Deep Sea World in Queensferry and has raised a huge amount of money between University Hospital Wishaw’s neonatal unit and the hospital’s counselling service.
Amanda decided to take on the challenge to mark 10 years since her baby son Murray tragically died at the hospital at just three days old.
Speaking following her fundraising ordeal, Amanda said: “I’m still recovering. On Sunday I was quite traumatised by the whole thing but looking at the pictures now I am proud that I did it.
“We were in the pool for about 25 minutes and it felt quite claustrophobic.
“I didn’t realise the weight of the equipment so it was heavy going.
“I wanted to do something to mark 10 years since Murray’s passing. I know a lot of people do running or hill climbing but I wanted to do something different.
“People who know will tell how much I hate sharks; I won’t even go in the sea for the fear.”
Amanda’s husband Alan and their four children were there to cheer her on.
And thanks to Amanda's endeavours, more than £1700 has been raised for the neonatal unit and counselling service at Wishaw hospital
Amanda said: “Murray was only three days old when he died. He was 11 weeks premature and had Septicaemia.
“He was born in March 2012 and was in the neonatal unit and the staff were amazing, they couldn’t do enough for us.
"He passed away in my arms on Mother’s Day.
“The medical director at the time had fought very hard for an in-house counselling, so I was one of the first to use the service.
“Going there was invaluable. It was somewhere where myself and Alan could offload our thoughts but without any judgement.
“The therapist, Elaine Hamilton, was a real strength to us.
"We had our daughter Layla 10 months after we lost Murray and she was there to help us every step of the day.
“I’m also very lucky to have such a supportive family.”
Donations to Amanda’s JustGiving page can be made by logging on to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/amanda-bryce
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