I just found out that Ironman 70.3 Oceanside is sold out, and
I can't even get a slot through the Ironman Foundation. This is very upsetting.
World Triathlon Cooperation (WTC) and the Ironman Foundation is doing
everything they can to help accommodate our journey, but I can't register for
these events until I have at least secured the fundraising to pay for entry
fees for that particular event.
The reason that the Ironman 70.3 Oceanside was chosen as one
of the events of the journey is because we would have been able to gain
exposure to the Shawn's Anomaly mission in one of the top 3 media markets in
the US while helping out a deserving famliy. This would have been a great KICKSTARTER
for this journey, but we missed it and one family that is affected by congenital anomalies will not receive the education, hope, and help that they deserve.
Please help me prevent this from happening to other families and events.
The popular events sell out fast and we never know when we will lose the opportunity to get into that event. Help
me raise the needed money to make the #SIM365USA Journey of Hope & Help become a reality.
Trying to do something as crazy as finishing every Ironman in the United States in 2013 is NOT a personal accolade that I want to do, it is so much more. In reality, if it were up to me, then I would be content just saying I have accomplished my goal of being Shawn's Ironman, but I personally feel that would be a very selfish considering the sobering facts that we just recently discovered:
Sure, Shawn's conditions affects 1 in 35 million children, but congenital anomalies affect 1 in 30 children. We have also recently found a study by the Center for Disease Control that shows congenital anomalies are the leading cause of infant deaths (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf). That fact became all too real when we saw Liam lose his 18 month battle with a congenital heart defect.
I hope that I am never insensitive to any other organization that helps raise awareness for other conditions. We have all been touched by cancer, diabetes, autism, etc. I am happy that there are thousands of organizations out there that help raise awareness for these conditions, but I am also a little envious of their success. Maybe it is just because of my own impatience to bring more awareness to what we now has been proven to be HUGE issue that has received very little attention. It has led me to sound like a broken record to those that are close to me or have been following this journey from the beginning, but I do this because I am reminded daily by someone's comment that they don't truly understand the real Shawn's Anomaly mission to provide education, hope, and help to families dealing with congenital anomalies. They think that all of this is about my son.
Everything has a beginning, and Shawn was the start of Shawn's Anomaly, but it has now grown into something far greater than my family. The #SIM365USA Challenge is designed to tell the greater story of the 1 in 30 children that are affected by congenital anomalies.
Our first story that we are highlighting is about the Pratt family. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Amy Pratt to find out more about her family. Please see below the 4 part interview:
I hope that this interview helps show you how important this mission is. It is not about me or my family, it is about you and what you can do for others and yourself. I ask that you please honor the Pratt family and help out our journey.
HELP us by sharing this post and donating to the #SIM365USA Challenge. Phase 1 ends on October 31st and important payments need to be made to secure that the challenge will happen. This is your chance to change the lives of families just like the Pratt family.
