Jordan and Niamh Mulligan, from Nottingham, are two of the siblings behind the inspirational YouTube channel MulliganBrothers, which has more than 1.8 million subscribers. They are running the London Marathon together in memory of Jordan's baby son Jacob, who was stillborn at around 34 weeks in 2015.
After the bereavement support Jordan received from Sands, a charity that supports those affected by pregnancy and baby loss, the siblings decided to run two iconic marathons to raise awareness and funds. They are running the London Marathon in April, followed by the Berlin Marathon in September.
Jordan said: "For me, doing physical challenges in honour of Jacob is massive and one of the ways I express my love for him. That's why I'm doing the London Marathon. It will be my first official marathon, which is exciting.
"As a grieving parent of a stillborn baby, you're almost taught to avoid talking about them and bringing their name up in day-to-day life, but running in their name is the total opposite of that, and that's very important. To be able to say Jacob's name loudly and proudly and for other people to be able to see it on my running vest is really, really special. I absolutely love wearing Jacob's name. When I run with his name on me, it almost feels like a bit of a superhero cape and like he's giving me power, strength, and a bit of help.
"Running the London Marathon for Sands also feels special because it feels like I'm running for a whole community of people who have gone through pregnancy and baby loss. The fact that Niamh is running the London Marathon with Jacob's name on her vest means the world to me. It's the ultimate version of somebody saying his name. It makes me so proud and fills me with so much love that she's outwardly speaking about Jacob, doing something for him, training really hard, and raising money for Sands. It's a huge celebration of my son. It's just the best."
As well as running for her own family, Niamh says on her hardest training days, it's a huge motivator knowing that her marathon challenges will help other families too. Niamh said: "Sands supported my brother during one of the darkest periods of his life. Now I want to give something back, because support services like Sands are vital. Running and raising money for Sands is a way of raising awareness so family or friends who know someone going through baby loss can tell them about Sands and the support that's available.
"For me, running through London isn't just a marathon; it's a promise to keep talking about baby loss so that no other family feels they have to go through it alone."
