How one mother turned grief into support for infant loss families
By Courtney Cole
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PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Kieran is the baby Kelli Beyer Patel desperately fought to have.
“I feel so lucky that he’s finally here,” said Beyer Patel, who lives in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood.
Before Kieran was born, Beyer Patel had two miscarriages.
“The whole image of your future just shatters,” she said. “It was really difficult and a lonely experience.”
Recognizing the grief of millions of families, buildings and landmarks are being illuminated pink and blue this week to raise awareness as part of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
Bernice Quesenberry started the nonprofit Chasing the Rainbows and the “Every Baby Loss Matters” campaign after she had a miscarriage and then lost a baby girl she named Brooke Marie.
“We want to stay connected and honor our babies because they’re not here anymore,” Quesenberry said. “She took her last breaths in my arms. And I said to her, ‘I’m so sorry I can’t save you.'”
Overwhelmed with grief, Quesenberry couldn’t find any support groups or help, so she started Chasing Rainbows.
“We have a lot of different services, in-person support groups,” Quesenberry said. “We do trauma therapy in-house. We have funeral assistance. We do care packages and guided journals.”
Quesenberry said it’s the kind of help Beyer Patel wishes was around when she lost her babies.
“There were really no resources, no support we could find that could help us navigate that,” Beyer Patel said. “Chasing the Rainbows ensures that families are not alone through that crisis, through that pain, through that healing.”
Beyer Patel became the mother she had always dreamed of being.
“[Kieran has] been the silver lining at the end of it, or the rainbow after the storm,” Beyer Patel said.
Quesenberry also had other children. Her grief now comes with joy.
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