Lisburn man setting up football team to help men grieve after baby loss

A man from Lisburn is setting up a football team to help other men process their grief after baby loss.

Wayne Nelson's daughter, Paige, was stillborn ten years ago, and he is now setting up a Sands United team in Lisburn to help other grieving men cope with their loss.

Sands United FC is a unique way for dads and other bereaved family members to come together through a shared love of sport and find a support network where they can feel at ease talking about their grief when they're ready.

The teams also commemorate their babies' all too brief lives by proudly displaying their names on the kit worn for every match.

Throughout the UK, there are currently 34 Sands United teams, including six in Northern Ireland. There are Sands United teams in Lisburn, Larne, Belfast, Derry, Enniskillen, and Dungannon.

Wayne told Belfast Live why he decided to get involved with Sands in setting up a football team.

He said: "My daughter was born sleeping at 30 weeks. We have three other kids, and they were all premature. I would've liked to say Paige would have been the healthiest out of all four of them, but yet somehow she didn't survive. She would've been ten now. It's just heartbreaking.

"But I never spoke about my feelings to my wife, and until this day she's never known fully how I feel as I just bottle it all up. I've heard stories from other Sands teams, in Belfast and Derry, that the men do come together and talk about it. They're not rushed into talking about it, they'll talk whenever they're ready.

"I don't know whether I'll ever come out and tell people how I really feel about it all. It is heartbreaking and I do think about her everyday, but it is God's way - God wanted her and that was it.

"But you do sit and think 'what