Our Story
Levi's Loop began following the loss of our son, Levi, who died suddenly at 32 weeks and was stillborn in March 2024.
Like many parents who experience baby loss, we had no warning. One moment we were preparing to welcome another child into our family. The next, our world had changed forever.
In the days and weeks that followed, our family was devastated. We were surrounded by the love and support of friends, family, colleagues and our church community, whose kindness helped carry us through some of the darkest days of our lives. The maternity team at West Cumberland Hospital cared for us with extraordinary compassion and professionalism, guiding us through an experience that no parent ever expects to face.
We spent precious time with Levi in the Bluebell Suite, a room dedicated to families experiencing baby loss. The suite takes its name from the famous bluebells at Rannerdale Knots, and a photograph of the valley hangs on the wall. It was there that we held our son for the first and last time. Since then, Rannerdale has become deeply connected to Levi's memory and remains a place that holds special significance for our family.
In the aftermath of Levi's death, I found myself searching for a way to process what had happened. I knew I needed something to focus on. Not as a distraction from grief, but as a way of working through it.
As a paramedic, I had seen many families experience tragedy. I understood the importance of talking, of processing difficult experiences rather than avoiding them. Yet when it became my turn, I felt the same temptation many people do: to retreat inward, avoid difficult conversations and try to carry the burden alone.
I knew that wasn't the answer.
Cycling became an outlet. It gave me structure, purpose and time to think. Within a few weeks of losing Levi, an idea began to take shape.
What if I could create something positive from the worst thing that had ever happened to our family?
What if I could create something that honoured Levi, helped me process grief, and perhaps one day inspired others?
That idea became Levi's Loop.
The inspiration came partly from my memories of completing the Bob Graham Round in 2013. While the challenge itself was unforgettable, some of my strongest memories were not of the fells but of the people surrounding it. Friends and strangers giving up their time to support someone else's attempt. Shared suffering. Encouragement through difficult moments. The sense that everyone involved was working towards a common goal.
The Bob Graham Round is more than a route. It is a challenge, a community and a tradition. I wanted to create something that carried some of that same spirit into the cycling world.
As the idea developed, it became more ambitious. Every ambulance station in Cumbria. Hardknott Pass. The Struggle. Great Dun Fell. Newlands Pass. Rannerdale Knots. A challenge large enough to demand commitment and preparation. A challenge worthy of carrying Levi's name.
More importantly, it gave me a reason to talk about him.
Every training ride, fundraising post, interview and conversation about Levi's Loop became an opportunity to tell Levi's story. The challenge encouraged conversations that I knew I needed to have, even when they were difficult. It helped transform grief from something carried silently into something shared with others.
Levi's Loop was first completed on 14th June 2025. The original ride covered approximately 470 kilometres and 7,500 metres of climbing, linking all 17 ambulance stations in Cumbria and raising £8,247 for Team Evie and The Ambulance Staff Charity (TASC), exceeding the original fundraising target of £5,000.
The charities chosen reflected two causes that became deeply important to us following Levi's death. Team Evie provided invaluable peer support during some of our darkest moments and continues to support bereaved families, children and hospital services across Cumbria and the North East. TASC was chosen because of the importance of mental health support within the ambulance service and the wider emergency services community.
But the long-term goal was always bigger than a single fundraising ride.
My hope is that Levi's Loop becomes something that outlives me. A challenge that riders return to year after year. A benchmark that people aspire to. A challenge completed with friends, family and support riders rallying around a common goal. A challenge that carries Levi's name across Cumbria long into the future.
Today, Levi's Loop exists as a free and open challenge for anyone to attempt.
It can be ridden solo and unsupported, with support riders, or as a relay team. There is no entry fee, no organiser and no fixed date. Just a collection of checkpoints, a 24-hour time limit and the challenge of finding your own way between them.
Every rider who takes on Levi's Loop becomes part of its story.
And in doing so, helps ensure that Levi's story continues too.
Our beautiful boy Levi
The Story Behind Levi's Loop – An Interview with Joe Hill