This is Charlie’s Story. . .

It is a crisp autumn weekend in late October. Northeast Ohio is purely splendid on days like these. I am hiking the Ledges Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park with my two sons, William and Alexander and my wife, Katherine. Katherine is 37 weeks and 6 days pregnant with our third son. 

Videos we captured from that weekend show the boys cutting dinosaurs out of pink construction paper, dancing with a pregnant Katherine in our kitchen, scrambling the rock faces in the national park, and shuffling their feet through the leaf-filled trails.

The video that is not captured is the one that is etched in our minds forever.  

The boys asking Katherine to feel the baby. Katherine lying on the living room floor, William and Alexander snuggled close, rubbing her belly. Me in the garage working on my next carpentry project – a new record player shelf. Katherine is standing at the door. “We’re not feeling the baby. If this little guy doesn’t move in the next hour, I’m going to the hospital.” My stomach drops. Two hours later, we are staring at a grainy image on the ultrasound machine.  The only sound in the room is the hollow vibrations of the microphone rubbing Katherine’s belly.  

Our baby’s heart has stopped beating.

Our son, Charles Martin Corvi, was stillborn on October 26, 2021. He was 13 days shy of his due date. His umbilical cord was tied in a true knot. Other than the issue with his umbilical cord, Charlie was a perfectly healthy, fully developed baby.

Charlie is not here to tell his own story, so we must do it for him.

Through our very tragic and emotional experience of losing Charlie, we had the benefit of excellent medical care and a network of family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and clergy who supported us every step of the way.

Contributions to the fund will be used to partner with healthcare systems and nonprofit organizations to identify families who are in need of support.

The fund will focus efforts on advocacy, research, grief and remembrance.