Photo courtesy of Hannah Hardy.
Rocky Ridge Elementary School teacher Hannah Hardy with husband Samuel, and daughter, Emma.
After losing her stillborn daughter Anna, Rocky Ridge Elementary School teacher Hannah Hardy is honoring what would have been her first birthday by organizing the inaugural Anna’s Arms Butterfly 5K to support and bring hope to other families affected by stillbirth. Here, Hardy is shown in a maternity photo with her husband, Samuel, and daughter, Emma.
By now, Hannah Hardy should have shared a year of milestones with her daughter — the first laugh, the first step, the first birthday.
But instead of planning Anna Charlotte’s first birthday party, the 30-year-old Shelby County mother is planning an inaugural community event aimed at supporting other families dealing with the heartbreak of stillbirth.
The first Anna’s Arms Butterfly 5K will be from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 12, at Veterans Park, on Valleydale Road near Spain Park High School.
“I wanted to do something to celebrate what would have been her first birthday and at the same time, reach out and put my arms around other mothers and other families who have been devastated by stillbirth,” said Hardy, who teaches first grade at Rocky Ridge Elementary.
This time last year, Hardy and her husband, Samuel, who is a deputy with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, were preparing their daughter, Emma, who was 21 months old at the time, to be a big sister, excited to make their family of three a family of four.
“Emma was so excited to meet Anna, to have a baby sister,” Hardy said. “We had a savings account opened for her and her first Disney trip planned. We had her name on her bedroom door. We had Anna’s going-home outfits picked out and ready.”
But the family never got to bring Anna home.
What had been a “completely normal and boring pregnancy” took a tragic turn shortly after Hardy’s 37-week doctor’s appointment.
“We were all dressed up in our Sunday best getting Easter pictures made, and I noticed that I hadn’t felt Anna move, and it scared me, so we went to the emergency room,” Hardy said.
Tests revealed that Anna’s heart had stopped.
“We were just in shock, just devastated. We couldn’t believe it was happening,” Hardy said.
Labor was induced, and Hardy delivered her stillborn daughter.
“It looked like she was just perfect. The cord was not around her neck; the cord was not knotted. It just looked like she was sleeping,” Hardy said.
The family held Anna for a long time after the delivery, singing to her, talking to her and telling her how much she would always be loved, Hardy said.
While she was thankful to be able to hold Anna for a few hours after the delivery, Hardy said she will never get over how empty her arms felt once she had to bury her baby.
“That’s why I started Anna’s Arms, why I’m doing the 5K and butterfly release,” Hardy said, “I want other people going through this to feel supported, to feel hope.”
The event will also raise money for bereavement boxes Hardy puts together for grieving parents of stillborn babies.
Hardy said she hopes to make Anna’s Arms Butterfly 5K an annual event that helps to fund research on what causes stillbirth, which she said affects one in 175 pregnancies in the United States.
The $40 registration fee for Anna’s Arms Butterfly 5K includes a race entry, a race T-shirt, a swag bag, light refreshments and a butterfly for the release ceremony.
To register or for more information, visit annasarms.org.
