Bobby's Marathon for Soundbridge
My name is Bobby and I am 6 years old. The reason this is a big deal is that my parents didn't know if I would live past the day I was born. I have a complex heart defect (Single Ventricle) that required open heart surgery when I was 4 days old. I have since had 3 other heart surgeries. With each one there was a rocky recovery period, because I unfortunately developed many complications, and I had to stay in Yale Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for a total of about 4 months. The good news is that my heart is strong and hopefully I won't need any more surgeries for a long time. The bad news is that because I was given many different medications to help me stay alive during that time, I lost a good amount of my hearing. I just got fitted with hearing aids in October, though I probably initially lost my hearing during the surgery when I was 3 months old. I lost even more of it last May during another critical episode in ICU.
I have been working with a place called CREC Soundbridge http://www.crec.org/ss/divisionunits/soundbridge/index.php which helps children who can't hear very well. I go with my mother to learn how to listen better and speak more clearly. Sometimes it is very difficult for me to express what I am thinking because I didn't hear all the words I needed to when I was younger. There are a lot of kids there with hearing aids and implants, and we all learn a lot from the teachers who work with us. Then some of us go back to our local schools where we can keep up with the other kids there more easily because of what we have learned at Soundbridge.
I am running a Marathon in honor of the kids who need the services that are provided by the people at Soundbridge. My mother never thought I'd be able to walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for breath, but after last year's heart surgery, all that changed. Now I am actually running and walking a marathon like her! I walk or run a little bit each day an log my miles until I make it to almost 26. (As of 10/13, I have logged 26.0 miles.) Then I'll probably run the last mile at the real Hartford Marathon race, and at the end I'll get a finisher's medal for completing the whole thing. The other kids at Soundbridge are going to run it too! Just because we can't hear doesn't mean we can't have fun! And I am having such a great time knowing that I can exercise like this without feeling so tired. My mom says she is very proud of me.
My brother and two sisters are logging their miles and running the last part of the Marathon too. My Dad is running the Half Marathon that day. My mom is running her first complete Marathon. We all believe in the work Soundbridge has done for our family as well as the many other kids who are hearing impaired, and we'd really appreciate it if you could support us in this fundraiser. To see a TV segment about all of us running the Marathon, go to http://www.nbc30.com/sports/9675476/detail.html
I'm glad you visited my Fundraising page. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to make a contribution to CRECSoundbridge. Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too! Thanks for being generous and for making the life of kids like me a little easier.
Bobby Zabarsky (6), Carrie (9), Nathan (12), Hannah (15), and the proud parents of these wonderful kids, John and Trish