Community
puts feet forward
to
raise heart-defect awareness
By LAURA
HAGAN
hagan@owentonnewsherald.com
Watching all the children running around
at the second annual Walk for Awareness of Congenital Heart Defects
on Saturday, one would never know that a few of them had overcome
great odds in their first years of life.
The Walk For Awareness was sponsored by God’s Special Little
Hearts, Inc. and the Owen County Extension Homemakers and works
to raise awareness of Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs) and also
to help fund research efforts on CHDs at Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital Medical Center.
There were 200 people in attendance at the Walk on Saturday, up
almost 100 from last year’s event. Besides those from Owen
County, families and supporters came from surrounding counties,
as well as Lancaster and Lexington.
Katie Columbia is the chairman for God’s Special Little
Hearts, Inc. and came up with the idea for the walk after her
own son’s battle with a CHD. Isaiah Columbia is two and
was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) – half
a heart. He has been through two open heart surgeries and has
one more scheduled for sometime this year.
Columbia started God’s Special Little Hearts, Inc. to help
other families who have been affected by CHDs. The group offers
support to families and in addition to helping raise money for
research, they also bring care packages to families at the hospital.
According to information collected from the American Heart Association
and Web sites like www.childrensheartfoundation.org and www.savinglittlehearts.com,
in the last 10 years, death rates for CHDs have decreased by almost
30 percent due to advances made through research. At this
year’s walk, Columbia said $9,000 was raised. The group
is still accepting donations. Checks can be made out to God’s
Special Little Hearts and mailed to Patricia Richardson at 675
Manley Lane, Sparta.
Columbia also said she hopes the $10,000-mark can be reached by
March 14, when a check will be presented to Dr. Erik Michelfelder
at Children’s Hospital.
Michelfelder, who is Director of the Fetal Cardiac Program at
Children’s was the guest speaker at the Walk. He provided
information about the need for research on CHDs and what the hospital
is doing to better their procedures and diagnoses.
The day began, however, with Columbia speaking about her own experience
and explaining the walk. She showed a video with pictures of children
who were battling CHDs, and read a poem. As those in attendance
began to circle the track at the First Baptist Church Family Life
Center, Connie Hon, Robin Stephenson, Jan Eldridge and Family
Four took turns singing.
A silent auction was also a part of the day’s events, with
50 items donated by individuals in the county and places such
as the Louisville Zoo, Newport Aquarium and Dinosaur World. A
spaghetti dinner was served at 5 p.m.
A “Wall of Tribute” featured pictures of the survivors
of CHDs and the “angels” who had lost their fight.
A quilt hung in one corner, with each square dedicated to a child
with a CHD. Some squares were in honor of a child, others were
in memory. The quilt is part of an international project for CHD
awareness. It has been on display around the United States since
2001. According to information available at the Walk, all 50 states
are represented on the quilt. More information can be found at
www.chdquilt.org.
Betty Lusby attends church with Columbia and said she has seen
Isaiah grow up.
“We’ve had a lot of prayer meetings for him,”
she said.
She came to support Columbia and said this was her first time
participating in the walk.
“I’m sure it will be bigger than last year’s,”
she said.
Michelle Callahan is from Grant County and serves as Vice-Chairman
for God’s Special Little Hearts, Inc. Her son is six years
old and has two CHDs – atrial septal defect and bicuspid
aortic disease. She saw an ad Columbia put in the Grant County
news and says she was desperate to meet someone who had a child
like hers.
“We can share stories, offer support,” Callahan said.
“It’s a rough life for these kids.”
Elaine Kelly works with the Owen County Extension Homemakers.
She knows Columbia through the Extension Office, where Katie was
a secretary.
“We are really excited to help her,” Kelly said. “She
has a tremendous testimony and she uses it.”
Kelly was excited to see such a great turn-out from the community.
“It seems like any time (someone is in) need, this county
is right there,” she said.
“I’ve been in Owen County for 10 years,” she
said. “This is one of the most caring communities probably
in the nation.”
Eight heart families were in attendance at the event. Columbia
said that is more than came last year. A man from Cincinnati who
had heard about the Walk came in honor of his son, who suffered
from Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and died 19 years ago.
Columbia said she believes each year the event is going to get
bigger and said she was pleased with this year’s attendance.
She said she was also surprised at the amount of money raised.
“It blew me away when we were counting it,” she said.
“I expected about $5,000.”
Owen County Primary, Elementary and Bowling Middle School contributed
a collective total of $2,300 to the final amount.
God’s Special Little Hearts’ next event is an inflatable
carnival, which Columbia said will happen some time this spring,
though no official date has been set yet.
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