Father starts charity after losing two sons
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Nick Olney, a man from Melbourne, Australia, founded the charity No Harry to Hold after experiencing the deaths of his two sons, Harry and PJ.
In 2020, Harry died less than two days after birth, and in 2022, the couple lost their second son, PJ, during pregnancy. After struggling to find psychological support for himself, Nick began connecting with other grieving fathers and realised a need for dedicated services.
No Harry to Hold now provides baby imprint kits to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across Australia, allowing parents to create keepsakes of their babies. Nick travelled to Cape York, the northernmost point of mainland Australia, carrying an imprint of Harry’s foot as a way to honour his son and further the charity’s mission. Access to bereavement care varies throughout Australia.
A survey of over 100 maternity services revealed that only 25 percent had a designated bereavement midwife, and fathers were often overlooked in follow-up care plans. While governments are increasing support for perinatal bereavement, dedicated positions remain scarce in regional areas. Kirsty Swain, a perinatal loss coordinator at Townsville University Hospital in North Queensland, emphasizes the importance of acknowledging fathers’ grief and providing them with tangible memories.
Nick hopes to equip all 23 of Australia’s NICUs with imprint kits, offering grieving parents a way to remember their babies and affirming that “You’re still a dad no matter what.”
