We can look at any number of places for people we need to or want to look up to, to admire, to gain inspiration from and to seek advice from.
Lauren Betts, or Loz, is my best mates cousin and I have known her for a fair amount of time, not (yet) as a close mate but someone who I had shared some drinks with, had a laugh with and have a chat with.
Loz married Warren, had a son and then a daughter, Lucy.
We talk about life changing events that occur to people. Some, in the whole scheme of things are not overly large but are large to that person and that is perfectly fine.
No one on earth will deny the seismic life changing event that occurred to Loz, you see in 2017, weeks before her first birthday, Lucy died. Lucy contracted influenza A and it took her.
Needless to say, the devastating effects this had on Loz, her family and her friends was enormous.
I need not talk about this as everyone can well imagine just how painful this would have been and continues to be.
I have had many conversations with Loz since and am proud to call her a pretty close mate now and she messaged me the other day, “Had my interview, I’ve been accepted as an official red nose counsellor”.
Taken from Red Nose’s website, “Red Nose Australia has grown from small group of families to Australia’s leading organisation dedicated to saving little lives during pregnancy, infancy and early childhood, and supporting anyone impacted by the death of a baby or child”.
Loz, despite her ongoing grief at losing Lucy, is now wanting to and will be helping other families who lose babies and infants. She will use her lived experience to help guide and support those that she went through herself.
Proud of her, massively so.
The word hero gets thrown around a lot these days but in my eyes, Loz is a true hero.
I don’t need to look far to find an inspiration, I just need to think of Loz.
(Loz and Warren have since had another boy to add to their family and while yes, nothing will ever replace Lucy, her memories will live on).
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