running for a cause

For the last year, one of my colleagues has been training to run a marathon. He writes:

Many of you already know the story of our close friends, Anne and Michael, and their beautiful daughter Emma. For those of you who haven’t already heard, here’s the story:

About a year ago (Sept. 16 to be exact) Emma Mae was born with an extremely difficult struggle ahead of her. Due to an undiagnosed blood condition resulting in placental separation and internal bleeding, Emma was born 6 weeks early with critical blood loss. An otherwise perfect baby was born fighting for her life and, despite the odds, Emma was able to hang on for an all-too-short life of 8.5 days.

As soon as we heard the news, Mindy and I headed for Akron to be with our friends during this difficult time. We had the pleasure of meeting Emma and experiencing first hand what wonderful parents Anne and Michael are. Emma’s friends and family surrounded her with love and attention for the short time she was alive and we were deeply honored to have been a part of it all.

Since Emma’s death, Anne and Michael have been in contact with the Akron Children’s Hospital, which is where Emma was taken immediately after she was born. Recently, they have been asked to be involved with the redesign of the Akron Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) "Family Room," where Emma, Anne and Michael spent their last moments together.

The three of them are the primary reason I’ve spent so much time on the trails/treadmill this year. Last December, Michael called me with an invitation to run a marathon with him in memory of Emma. Though the idea seemed crazy to me at the time, I am increasingly confident that finishing will be possible. After 10 months of training, our hope is to make our efforts even more worthwhile than we originally expected by contributing to the creation of an all-new family room – "Emma’s Room" – which will benefit families who will spend time there in the future.

This Sunday, October 9 (Happy Birthday Dad!), three people will be running the marathon in memory of Emma. We’ll be working our way along a limestone path from Akron to Cleveland. If you are willing and able, I am asking for your financial support. Any and all donations are very much appreciated and will go directly to the Akron Children’s Hospital NICU redesign. If you’re able to contribute, please make your checks out to "Akron Children’s Hospital" with a memo note to "Emma’s Room/NICU" and send it to the following address before the Friday following the marathon (October 14th, 2005).

Akron Children's Hospital
Development Department
One Perkins Square
Akron, OH 44308-1062

Good luck, Ben! We're rooting for your success both in running the marathon and raising funds for Emma's room.