| 1 | Boudousa Brain | 2222 |
| 2 | Shawn's Ironman | 1206 |
| 3 | Green Dot (Henry Tolstedt) | 1152 |
| 4 | Kona hopeful F16 pilot | 765 |
| 5 | The Quadfather (Nick Tieney) | 702 |
| 6 | Isabella' Legacy | 366 |
| 7 | Happy Birthday Ironman | 345 |
| 8 | The Opportunity | 207 |
| 9 | I am a living proof of your mantra "Anything is possible" (Milan Dubravka) | 196 |
| 10 | Crash To Kona (TychoRiis Weiche) | 150 |
| 11 | my biggest dream (Christian Schon) | 102 |
| 12 | Dean Kashlan Mantra (Dean Kashlan) | 100 |
| 13 | A race for the women in my life | 84 |
Now that we are close to the top, we have to maintain our momentum! Remember that views are the only way we can tell how we are doing, but VOTING is the only thing that will get us in. SHARING is what will help us multiply our daily votes.
I have a few people to thank specifically. All of these people are very special to me because of their dedication to spread the word to their followers on their Facebook Pages about congenital anomalies. You can show your appreciation by going and liking their pages:
Nanci Tankersley
Susan Pickle
Whitney Lyon
Amy Pratt
Rachel Kaufman
Meghan Hall
If you combine all of their followers we can be over 126,000 strong daily, but it as we all know about the Facebook Newsfeed, the message can sometimes get lost. You can tell how drastic the drop off is according to the views and the number of people we are trying to reach. They have committed to share our story frequently, so hopefully we can get more and more votes daily.
I can't tell you how much it means to me to have their support. I have gotten to know each of their stories on a personal level. I had already decided I was going to do something for each of them even before they committed to helping. Their willingness to help just confirms to me why my ideas was a good one.
*Warning: You may need tissues for the remainder of this post.
I spent a some time yesterday making a "HOPE" flag that I want to carry across the finish line of the Ironman World Championship if I get enough votes. As soon as we receive it from the manufacturer, we will be bringing it to every event that I, or the iDO! Fab 5 team, will be participating in so families can put a child's name on the flag that has been/is affected by a congenital anomaly. I can't walk hand in hand with every child that has a congenital anomaly across the finish line in Kona, but at least I can carry their name across with me. I would be honored to do so! (Okay, now I am crying again!)
Here is the flag:
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| Click To Enlarge |
Now the above mentioned individuals will immediately see a lot of symbolism, but for others that may not see it all, please let me take the opportunity to explain:
- H is colored periwinkle because that is the official awareness color for the congenital anomaly that two of the Pratt Pack 5 are affected by: Tracheal Esophageal Fistula (TEF). Amy and her husband have 4 of 5 children born with a birth defect.
- O is colored in lime green because that is the official awareness color for the congenital anomaly that Avery suffered from before he passed on: Gastroschisis
- P is colored in Red because that is the official awareness color for the congenital anomaly that Liam had before he passed last year: Congenital Heart Defect (CHD)
- E is colored in blue because that is the official awareness color for the congenital anomaly that Jaden is affected by: Hydranencephaly
- The sun represents our willingness to reach the far ends of the earth to provide education, hope, and help through Shawn's Anomaly.
- The skyline in black represents Houston (Where Shawn's Anomaly started) and also how the world overshadowed awareness for the leading cause of infant deaths, Congenital Birth Defects, until Shawn's Anomaly started.
- The different color houses represent that congenital anomalies comes to each home differently.
- You can see the swimmer, biker, and runner representing those that have dedicated their race to raise awareness through Team Shawn's Anomaly!
- In the ocean you will see fish that are in the shape of an infinity sign representing that we will not stop our campaign to help families and make others aware of congenital birth defects.
I originally designed this with some of Shawn's crayons, but thanks to Dean Digamon of Prosper Apparel (Notice the Prosper Watermark?) we got it in a vector form that we could use for our Team Shawn's Anomaly race gear.
Now that you understand what all of it means, I ask you to please tell everyone you know about this flag and my campaign to fly it at the Ironman World Championship. I want to get as many children's names of children affected by congenital anomalies as I can on the flag. It will show the public how COMMON, COSTLY, & CRITICAL they are to all of us!
Thanks again for your support! Keep up the great work of voting and sharing daily!
