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| Thousands of CHOC Walk participants make their way into California Adventure Park. |
On Oct. 14, over 14,000 people flocked to the Disneyland Resort for the 22nd Annual CHOC Walk in the Park benefiting CHOC Children’s. Every dollar raised by walkers will support the care, services, research and education that CHOC provides patients and their families. In addition, CHOC is preparing to open its new patient tower this coming spring to expand services and ensure that every child in need receives the care they desperately need, regardless of their family’s ability to pay.
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| Jen, Dave and Ryan Aprea with Shannon, one of Ryan’s nurses at CHOC Children’s. |
As I mentioned in my post a couple weeks ago, this was my first year participating in CHOC Walk and I was a proud member of Team Ryan Aprea. Ryan was born at just 25 weeks gestation, over three months early, via emergency cesarean section. He was just 1 pound, 12 ounces at birth and in need of lots of specialized NICU care before he would be strong enough to go home. That’s where CHOC came in. It became like a second home for Ryan’s parents, Dave and Jen, as they worked with the outstanding team at CHOC on Ryan’s road to recovery.
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| Team Ryan (minus a few members) on Main Street in Disneyland Park. |
We met our team of about 20, all donning baby blue “Team Ryan” shirts, bright and early on the morning of the walk in Downtown Disney and walked together to the starting line on Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure Park. There were so many teams and individual walkers there to support CHOC, and it was incredible to see their shirts, banners and signs dedicated to former and current patients—little warriors just like Baby Ryan who’ve battled childhood illness and been touched by the tireless work of the CHOC Children’s staff. As we made our way throughout the course, passing through Cars Land, Sleeping Beauty Castle, and backstage at Disneyland Park, there was a powerful sense of camaraderie in the air knowing that our steps were helping to improve children’s lives.
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| Ryan’s big sister Dani was thrilled to meet her favorite princesses! |
In spite of our early start, the little ones in our group (including my 2-year-old) loved taking in the sights and sounds of the parks along the way, including high energy music, appearances by some of their favorite characters, and encouragement from local cheerleaders and bands. After we crossed the finish line in Downtown Disney, we spent some time visiting the vendors’ booths and celebrating our efforts to support CHOC.
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| The 5K finish line in Downtown Disney! |
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| The Apreas saying goodbye to CHOC on Ryan’s homecoming day. |
The best part about the timing of the 2012 CHOC Walk in the Park was that just four days later, we got to celebrate the homecoming of our team’s namesake. After seven months, the Apreas finally got to bring Ryan home. It was a long-awaited day for their family and a bittersweet departure after building close relationships with the doctors, nurses and support staff. I feel privileged to have followed their story and seen firsthand the results of the quality care CHOC Children’s provides to its special patients, especially the very smallest ones.
Read more from Courtney on her blog Theories of a Thirtysomething. You can also find her on Twitter (@2courtney).
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Great post Courtney! I hope I’m around to participate in the CHOC Walk next year – looks fun!