SASKATOON – The first annual Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) awareness snowmobile rally took place just north of Saskatoon over the weekend. Participants joined together for a family that suffered a tragic loss last year.
Event organizers Colton and Erin Inglehart lost their infant son, Nathan, to the syndrome.
“Nathan was the ultimate baby that you read about in books, although he didn’t sleep very well,” said Erin with a smile.
“He was the happiest baby, he was always smiling, laughing, he had this little infectious giggle.”
“On June 13 of 2014, we lost our lost our one-year-old son to SIDS, it was a devastating day for the whole family and once we had gotten the autopsy report back and it concluded that there was no reason for death,” said Colton.
According to the Baby’s Breath foundation, SIDS is the sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant under the age of one which remains unexplained, even after the performance of a complete autopsy. To this day, SIDS is not preventable.
“Its life-changing it’s very tough … you find you live each day minute by minute, breath by breath sometimes, and you start to enjoy some of the little things,” said Erin.
Colton came up with the idea for the rally on Nov. 19, due to his love for snowmobiling. Over 50 sponsors helped out for Saturday’s event which Colton says it’s the first event of its kind.
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READ MORE: Community gathers for snowmobile rally in Borden, Sask.
Snowmobile enthusiasts gathered at the Saskatoon Snowmobile Clubhouse and travelled to Rosthern, Sask. for a day of speed and fun.
“The Saskatoon Club was awesome enough to groom the whole trail and marked the whole trail right to Rosthern,” said Colton.
Nearly 100 people registered for the rally, which raised $8,500.
“Every dollar raised to going to Baby’s Breath, which is the SIDS foundation of Canada, basically just hoping everyone comes out has a good time, eat some good food, win some good prizes,” said Colton.
“The support and the possibility of more research is insurmountable, if we can help support other families or help research so we can prevent more SIDS deaths that would be wonderful,” said Erin.
“Hopefully more groups, more social workers, anything to support the families, people that can go in and hold hands and basically state ‘I know this, I’ve been there.”
SIDS is the number one cause of death for infants under the age of one, according to the foundation.
The couple has a three-year-old son, Carter, who remembers and still talks about his younger brother.
“Nathan’s still a part of our life, even if he’s passed,” said Erin.
The couple haven’t met face-to-face with any other families impacted by the medical disorder but they are in a SIDS support group through Facebook.
Baby’s Breath, previously The Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, has been the country’s only national foundation focused on SIDS since 1973.
Watch the video below: SIDS snowmobile rally
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