Tommy's Commendation Award: Georgia Bunning

Georgia Bunning and her husband Dom gave birth to their daughter Bea in May 2017. In the days leading up to her birth and as her due date came and went, Georgia and Dom eagerly awaited her arrival to see what the next chapter would bring.

Beautiful Bea was born without a heartbeat after an extremely difficult time during the final moments of labour. Georgia was taken immediately to theatre with post-partum haemorrhage whilst Dom stayed with the doctors battling to save Bea’s life. 

Bea passed away in Georgia’s arms, just over two and half hours after being born.  

Until that point, there had been no signs of struggle and Georgia and Dom had to face the devastating prospect of returning home without their daughter.

 “There are no words to describe how heartbroken the whole family were. We were all in shock and grieving Bea whilst wanting to wrap Georgia and Dom in cotton wool to protect them from the harsh reality they had to face.”

- Clemmie, Georgia’s sister  

Georgia and Dom were absolutely determined that Bea’s legacy would be long lasting, and that their memories of her would shine on. They were aware of Tommy’s research and decided to focus on the London Landmarks Half Marathon, which Tommy’s owns and runs to benefit over 200 charities as well as their own. The idea of putting their own team together, Team Bea, was born. They were overwhelmed by the response from family and friends. So many people joined the team to show their support in a tangible way and were as determined as they were to change the statistics on baby loss.

The fundraising effort from the whole team was immense; including a ‘Crunch and Brunch’ event, followed by quiz nights, bingo evenings, cake sales, a football tournament, a golf day and so much more. 

Training for the half marathon over the cold winter months was tough, particularly when battling injuries and the elements, including copious amounts of snow. 
Come race day, Team Bea had over 110 runners, many of whom had never run before, and so many more supporting from the side-lines. 

By LLHM race day, Team Bea had smashed their initial fundraising target of £20,000. In fact, they  had raised an astonishing £105,000. Very proud but not quite satisfied, Georgia has since organised a ‘Team Bea Golf Day’ which raised £40,000, and is currently planning a ‘Team Bea Fiesta’ for this summer.   

Georgia has been truly unstoppable in raising much-needed funds and awareness of the services Tommy’s provides. To date, ‘Team Bea’ has raised over £190,000– an astonishing amount in a relatively short amount of time. This will go a long way towards ensuring other families won’t have to suffer the same heartbreak that the Bunnings did. 

“We are so proud of Team Bea’s achievements and believe Georgia and Dom have inspired and educated more people than they realise by sharing their story. We know Bea would be immensely proud too. We believe that anyone who has fundraised for Tommy’s is a champion, but Georgia has channelled unimaginable pain into building an immense legacy for Bea.”

- Clemmie, Georgia’s sister