SUPPORTING CHD RESEARCH THROUGH FITNESS

THE MEANING BEHIND OUR NAME

Warrior. I will never forget the day I walked in and saw this sticker. We were both drained from the constant worry and stress. Every day had become the same routine. Get to the hospital at 7:30 am so that we can here what the doctors had to say for the day, get breakfast, sit with Jack, get lunch, sit with Jack, then go back to the hotel once we talked to the night nurse. It was painful. Knowing our son was in pain and not being able to help. We felt useless. He was sedated from day one, some days heavier than others, so he was asleep most of the time. Rarely he would open his eyes and look around and it always made us feel better. We kept track of the amount of surgeries and procedures he had, although neither one of us is strong enough to read through the notes we wrote down. He was a warrior. He fought to stay alive, he fought the nurses, he even fought the machines that were trying to help. The nurses would joke with us that he was doing it on purpose. This is why this sticker means so much, he was a true warrior. 

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Grip. As I mentioned above, during the three weeks, Jack spent all but a few hours sedated. He struggled to fully open his eyes, and rarely did, but we cherished those moments. he moved his arms and legs a lot. that could have been involuntary, we'll never know, but if you placed your finger anywhere near his hand he would grab on. We would stand next to the bed for hours when we were able to and just let him hold on to our fingers. Along side the two times we were able to hold him this will always be one of our best memories.

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This does not just apply to our son. There are families going through situations like this every day. We met a lot of them while in the hospital. This is an entire community, and that is why we want to show our support.