A MESSAGE FROM Brittney
Approximately
25 to 30 million people in the United States are afflicted by rare diseases, which equates to nearly 1 in 10 Americans. While individually rare (defined as affecting fewer than 200,000 people), there are over 7,000 known rare diseases that collectively have a significant impact. About half of those affected are children.One of those children is the child of my dear friend, Robert. Robert has Morquio Syndrome. Morquio affects one in every 200,000 to 300,000 births per year.
How could I not try to help raise awareness of all rare diseases and also Morquio and the wonderful foundation Roberts parents have created with Rooting for Robert?
I don’t believe it is by chance that my connecting to NORD and Running for Rare has the same an acronym. R4R. I think it is a God Wink.
Since a young age I have always had strong faith and the belief that God put me here for a reason. And I believe part of that is to lead more people to God by living and demonstrating a God centered life. But for me it is deeper.
March 31, 2005 into the wee morning hours of April 1 I was involved in an accident I should not have survived. The story from that day from my father goes that when the doctors came out of my surgery they looked at my father in awe and said they didn’t know who he knew upstairs but that I was going to live with some potential issues with my right leg (which I never have) and they couldn’t explain how I had survived.
My question to that is why? Why me? Why did God save me? A few years prior I lost a close friend in a freak accident. Why was my life spared and his wasn’t? Why? Was it because my friends sat in a circle holding hands that night praying? Was it so I could have my two wonderful daughters? Or was it just so that I could live a God centered life and be an example to others. I certainly have not been perfect in trying to let God shine through me. Like any human I lose my cool and make plenty of mistakes but through the ups and downs of life I turn to God and try to find the silver lining in even the hardest of situations.
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