Pediatric stroke touched our family 3 years ago when our son, Johnny, had a stroke while he was still in the womb. Thankfully, his stroke was relatively mild and due to his continued hard work and some awesome therapists, he will make a full recovery.
But many kids aren't so lucky. 1 in 2,800 babies have strokes in-utero or have strokes as kids (11 in 100,000), which are harder to bounce back from. These kids get some therapy from the state or insurance but it's rarely enough. Our goal is to raise money to give these kids a chance to be "normal" and get them all of the therapy they can handle to be the best they can be. We can tell you first hand that therapy WORKS. It's amazing how the brain can be re-wired and re-trained by qualified therapists. Want to understand some of the challenges a stroke victim has? Try tying your shoes with one hand. Or cutting food with one hand. Therapy will help these kids do things many of us consider trivial.
If you have a little extra time or a little extra cash to help these kids, here are some options.
# 1) Volunteer. We can always use volunteers for the race. This will be about 2 hours of your time and will be a blast. Mainly we need folks to stand at intersections to keep cars at bay while runners come by. Handing out water and pre-race registration/packet pick up are also options. Volunteering will be Saturday morning (10/12/2012) from 7-9 AM and you'll leave feeling like a million bucks, we promise!
#2) Make a donation or sponsor. EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR WE RAISE is going to a charity called CHASA (chasa.org) whose sole focus is helping pediatric stroke survivors. Last year the funds went to purchase multiple therapeutic aids for kids who's families couldn't afford them. Last year's runners made a huge difference in many kids lives and so can you!
#3) Run Forest, Run! (Or Walk!). $30 gets you into the race, an awesome T-shirt, a day-old Einstein Bagel at the finish-line and a great feeling inside. Nothing makes you feel better than a 30 minute jog, right? Come on out and kick off your Saturday with a brisk Fall jog down the beautiful Glen Ellyn Prairie Path.
For those of you who are already supporting the P.S.S. 5K, thank you! For those of you interested you can sign up for #1, #2 or #3 above by clicking the button below. Thanks for reading this and for all you do!
Your friends,
J, Gina, Siena and Johnny
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FAST FACTS:
Did you know that each year, 1 in 2,800 babies and 11 in 100,000 children have a stroke? Medical costs in the year following a childhood stroke average $43,000. Young stroke survivors often experience decades of weekly therapy sessions, seizure and spasticity medications, orthotics, orthopedic surgery, behavioral interventions, and special education in the school system, resulting in loss of work time for parents. This creates a financial burden for families, the healthcare system, the education system and society as a whole; not to mention the emotional toll for the child and his or her entire family.
The good news is there has been great recent strides by many research institutions in finding medical treatments for these conditions. In addition to that, many of these disabilities can be overcome with intensive therapy. But not all kids can get the amount of therapy they need to overcome these disabilities. These are the kids we are trying to help. All race proceeds will be donated to the Children's Hemiplegia & Stroke Association (chasa.org) in support of these goals.