Red Nose Day is a cause close to the hearts of senior firefighter Lloyd O’Keeffe and his colleague, firefighter Julia Chadburn. Photo: Travis Radford.
If you’ve recently seen a fire truck driving around on Canberra streets, you may have been forced to do a double take.
ACT Fire and Rescue’s fleet of pumpers have once again donned big red noses ahead of the 35th Red Nose Day (Friday 11 August).
The annual day invites people to ‘get silly for a serious cause’ – supporting families whose babies or children die suddenly or unexpectedly.
It’s a cause very close to the hearts of two Canberra firefighters, Lloyd O’Keeffe and Julia Chadburn, who have themselves tragically lost children.
Senior firefighter and father of four Lloyd’s second child, Lachlan, was unexpectedly stillborn 37 weeks into his partner’s pregnancy in 2013.
“It was just out of the blue,” Lloyd remembers. “It was a healthy pregnancy right up until he passed away, so really such a terrible time.”
Each year, Lloyd brings his kids, Chloe, Amelia and William, to the fire station to help attach the big red noses to the front of the trucks.
“We like to do it in memory of our little boy Lachlan,” he says. “But as public figures, it’s nice to be able to help share the awareness.
“Also as a male, sometimes we don’t talk about when we go through tough times. I can put my hand up and say, I was really struggling.”
Julia remembers feeling “stuck” while everyone else moved on, after she lost her baby midway through her pregnancy at 19 weeks in 2007.
“I felt pretty isolated in my experience. So, having conversations about this is hard and it makes me a bit emotional, as expected,” she says.
“But I think opening up so no one else gets in that position where they feel like they’re the only one. That’s what’s always been important to me.”
According to Red Nose, Julia and Lloyd’s experiences aren’t uncommon. More than 3000 Australian babies die suddenly every single year and one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage.
The organisation has been working to reduce this number since the inaugural Red Nose Day in 1988. In the 35 years since, the charity event has invested more than $18 million towards research into sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and stillbirth. The non-profit claims this has contributed to an 80 per cent reduction in sudden infant deaths, or more than 11,000 babies saved.
Aside from funding research, the organisation also offers specialised support free of charge to anyone affected by the sudden death of a baby or child, including Lloyd and Julia.
“They put us in touch with people who were in similar situations, so we could be together, share our experiences and move forward and grow from that,” Julia explains.
Lloyd and his partner were supported by Red Nose through their loss and next pregnancy with daughter Amelia, which “really helped us get back on our feet.”
He says despite only having been a firefighter for 12 months when his son passed away, his colleagues rallied around him when he returned to work.
“People were calling up, messaging, bringing around flowers, biccies and all sorts of things. It was amazing. It was a real second family,” he says.
“My first day back on shift, the station officer and three firefighters on the fire truck, every one of us had experienced the loss of a child.
“That’s really one of the reasons why we want to support such good organisations that provide such great, great support.”
To learn more about Red Nose Day or to make a donation, please visit the Red Nose Day website.
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