2,000 LifeVac Anti-Choking Devices Provided Across the UK

Today, we are incredibly proud, humbled and emotional to announce that we have reached a milestone that once seemed almost unimaginable. The Oliver Steeper Foundation has now provided 2,000 LifeVac anti-choking devices across the United Kingdom.

When we started The Oliver Steeper Foundation, we were simply two grieving parents trying to find a way forward after our entire world had been torn apart. We never had a grand plan, we never imagined how far Oliver’s name would travel, and we certainly never dreamed that in such a short space of time we would be writing a post to say that our little charity has now provided 2,000 LifeVac anti-choking devices to childcare settings across the United Kingdom.

In September 2021, our beautiful little boy Oliver lost his life at just nine months old after choking while at nursery. There are some moments in life that stay with you forever, and receiving that phone call is one of them. No parent should ever receive a call telling them that something has happened to their child. No parent should have to make that journey to a nursery or hospital with absolutely no idea what they are going to find when they arrive. No parent should have to sit beside their baby in a hospital, willing them to survive, and ultimately face the devastating reality that they will never be bringing their child home again.

Oliver was nine months old. He should have had his whole life ahead of him. There should have been first steps, first words, birthdays, Christmas mornings, first days at school and a lifetime of memories still to make. Instead, we were left trying to understand how we were supposed to continue our lives without him.

The truth is that there are no words that can properly describe losing a child. The grief does not disappear when the funeral is over, when people return to their normal lives or as the years pass. Oliver remains part of our family and part of everything we do. We would give absolutely anything for there to have never been a reason for The Oliver Steeper Foundation to exist. We would exchange every achievement, every milestone and every single one of these 2,000 devices in an instant if it meant having our little boy back in our arms.

But we cannot change what happened to Oliver. What we can do is try to create something positive from the most devastating experience of our lives and make sure that his short life continues to have a lasting impact.

That is why we created The Oliver Steeper Foundation.

Our mission has always been simple. We want childcare settings to have an additional line of defence available should a child or adult choke and standard first aid fail to clear their airway. Through the incredible generosity of people who have supported us, we have been able to provide LifeVac anti-choking devices free of charge to registered nurseries, preschools and childminders across the UK.

When we started this journey, we genuinely never dreamed we would be able to provide this many devices in such a short space of time. Every single device represents a childcare setting that now has another option available to them should the unthinkable happen and standard first aid is unsuccessful. Behind every device are children, families and childcare professionals, and that is why reaching 2,000 means so much more to us than simply reaching a number.

We are also immensely proud of the way The Oliver Steeper Foundation continues to operate. Despite how much the charity has grown, we remain committed to ensuring that as much of the money entrusted to us as possible goes directly towards our mission. We pay zero wages and claim zero expenses. Nobody founded this charity to make a living from it, and nobody is financially benefiting from Oliver’s name. Other than the minimum essential administration costs required to operate responsibly as a charity, such as our insurance and storage unit, every other penny we raise goes towards providing LifeVac devices.

That is something we have always been incredibly passionate about and something we continue to pride ourselves on. When somebody puts £1 into one of our collection pots, makes a donation online, attends one of our events or spends their time fundraising for us, we understand the trust that comes with that donation. People have chosen to give that money in Oliver’s memory and to support our mission, and we believe we have a responsibility to make every penny count.

None of what we have achieved would have been possible without the people who have stood beside us.

To our trustees, we owe an enormous thank you. Thank you for believing in what we are trying to achieve, for supporting us through the difficult days and for helping us continue to grow The Oliver Steeper Foundation while never losing sight of why it exists in the first place.

To our amazing volunteer team, thank you. You give up your own time to attend events, help with fundraising, talk to members of the public, support our work and represent Oliver’s Foundation with such passion. You do it without expecting anything in return, simply because you believe in what we are trying to accomplish. We could not do what we do without you.

To every person, business, organisation, community group, school, childcare provider and fundraiser who has supported us over the past two years, thank you. Whether you have organised an event, completed a sponsored challenge, donated a raffle prize, placed a collection pot on a counter, made a personal donation or encouraged others to support us, you have played a part in reaching this milestone.

And finally, to you, the general public, we want to say the biggest thank you.

Our charity may carry Oliver’s name, but it has been the support of ordinary people across the country that has allowed his legacy to grow. Every time you share one of our posts, tell somebody about the Foundation, donate, attend an event, put some spare change into a collection pot or simply take the time to understand why we do what we do, you are helping us continue. What started with two heartbroken parents trying to make a difference in their little boy’s memory has become something far bigger than we ever imagined.

Two thousand devices now sit in childcare settings because people believed in our mission.

Of course, our greatest hope is that every single one of those devices remains untouched and is never needed. Nobody wants a child to choke. Nobody wants a childcare professional to ever find themselves in a situation where standard first aid has failed. But if that day ever comes, we want them to have another option available.

For us, this will never simply be about numbers. Whether it is device number 1, device number 2,000 or whatever number we may reach in the future, every device represents why we started.

It represents Oliver.

Our little boy was only nine months old when we lost him. His life was heartbreakingly short, but the impact he continues to have is something we could never have imagined when we first started this Foundation.

We cannot give Oliver the future that was taken from him, but together, we can make sure his name continues to make a difference.

From two grieving parents with an idea born from unimaginable heartbreak, to 2,000 LifeVac anti-choking devices provided across the United Kingdom.

To everyone who has helped us reach this point, from the very bottom of our hearts, thank you.

We could not have done this without you.

This is, and always will be, for you, Oli.

Forever nine months old. Forever loved. Forever our little boy. Forever making a difference.

Lewis & Zoe Steeper