Owen's Story
Why We Race for Every Child...
We have SO many reasons to participate in Race for Every Child here at FIT4MOM Montgomery County. We shared Lily's Story and why we originally began participating in this race, and now we want to spotlight some of our other families and why it's also so important to them!
We're spotlighting Owen this time! This tough guy has a story that can inspire us all to love and appreciate what Children's National is doing for families around the nation. This is their 3rd time participating in The Race for Every Child with their FIT4MOM family! 💕
We are so excited to be participating in the Race for Every Child for the 3rd year in a row! This will be the 2nd year that Owen is running the Kid's Dash, and the race is once again on his birthday weekend!
Why is this significant? The first year we ran this race was in 2016...and we didn't think much of it, besides the fact that we were there as a family, it was POURING rain and that we were doing a good thing for a wonderful hospital and a lot of deserving children and families. Charlotte had spent a few days at Children's when she had pneumonia as a baby, and we knew first hand how great of a place it was. Fast forward to January of 2017…and that is when we would become forever grateful for Children’s National.
Owen was about 15 months old and was suffering from what seemed like a severe cold. Mike came home from work, so that he could take Owen to the pediatrician and I could stay home with Charlotte. They weren’t gone for 10 minutes when I received a text saying that Owen was being rushed by ambulance to Shady Grove Emergency Room. The pediatrician had taken one look at Owen and knew he was not getting enough oxygen and they needed to act quickly. He was taken to the trauma room of the ER, as his condition warranted a large team of professionals and urgent care. The Shady Grove team quickly determined that Owen needed a level of care that could not be provided at Shady Grove, and he was air lifted to Children’s National, where he would spend a week in the Pediatric ICU. Owen experienced numerous ups and downs, scary moments, and lots of serious conversations and sleepless nights for mommy and daddy. At the end, Owen pulled through, and we were some of the lucky ones who got to leave Children’s Hospital with our baby in our arms. We know this is not the case for countless families on a daily basis.
There is no way to ever fully express our gratitude to all of the medical professionals involved, from the doctors and nurses at our pediatrician’s office, to the Shady Grove team who made a quick and accurate decision which lead to Owen getting the escalated care he needed, and to the Children’s National PICU department who ultimately saved his life. If it weren’t for this combination of experts, I’d be writing a very different story right now.
On October 21, 2017, on his 2nd birthday, Owen ran the Race for Every Child Kid’s Dash for the first time, as a healthy toddler. He and his sister should’ve been in different waves due to their ages, but they insisted on running together. We compromised and they both snuck into one of the 3 year old waves. This was an emotional race for so many reasons… seeing the camaraderie between the loving sister and brother, the fact that Owen was the only 2 year old running in his wave, and was happy, healthy and confident enough to cross the finish line despite a little fall (a roaring cheer from the crowd followed when he got right back up and continued running!), and that the entire morning was dedicated to such a great cause!
On October 21, 2017, on his 2nd birthday, Owen ran the Race for Every Child Kid’s Dash for the first time, as a healthy toddler. He and his sister should’ve been in different waves due to their ages, but they insisted on running together. We compromised and they both snuck into one of the 3 year old waves. This was an emotional race for so many reasons… seeing the camaraderie between the loving sister and brother, the fact that Owen was the only 2 year old running in his wave, and was happy, healthy and confident enough to cross the finish line despite a little fall (a roaring cheer from the crowd followed when he got right back up and continued running!), and that the entire morning was dedicated to such a great cause!
Thank you for sharing Owen's story with us! We adore him and love having your family in our village!
Ready to join our race team yet? Click below and join Team FIT4MOM Montgomery County now! Registration ends soon!