It was a big moment realizing that she had cerebral palsy.
Robbie was born at 29 weeks and they didn't think he was going to make it.
We knew she was going to have long-term issues from that.
Wright was three months early and then had some brain issues so he has cerebral palsy.
They didn't ever tell us if she'd be able to walk with a walker or not.
They didn't promise us anything.
For a doctor to say oh your kid has CP, so that's how you have to live.
No that's not a reason. Let's make the life of this kid better,
and that's why we come to st. Louis Children's Hospital. They give us hope.
People with cerebral palsy or motor disorders move a little bit differently than you or I would.
Sometimes they're not able to do things that you and I would be able to do.
I try to be normal even though it's hard for me sometimes.
We've had a rough rough way to go with Robbie in the beginning but now he's just thriving and
he's doing so well.
We always have set goals for Annie within reasonable reach but also pushing her to do things that
we didn't know if she'd be able to do. She's come a long way.
Wyatt is definitely still making progress and is going to continue to make progress because he's so determined.
You can do anything you put your mind to and we expect her to compete in a triathlon.
You know what? She does.
Kids who have difficulty moving and motor impairments have to work so hard for
everything and we kind of forget to tell them how great they are.
I think athletics are such a magical thing in a kid's life. Then, the fact
that my daughter can do that, that's pretty awesome. We knew that the
triathlon would be a really good fit for them to be able to showcase their skills.
The goal of the triathlon is to get kids moving but it's so much more than that.
It's just an experience that is provided to those kids that they've never had before.
It inspired me to go out there and reach my dreams.
For the adaptive triathlon, we had our first heat of athletes start in the pool and
they would finish whatever distance that was predetermined for them.
Then they waited to get into their athletic clothes, transition to the bike,
they rode around upfield on Washington University's campus, and then they came
to an area where then they got off their cycles and either walked or ran by
themselves. You could walk with a walker, you could walk with a gait trainer,
you could use your power wheelchair, you can use your manual wheelchair, no matter
what way you could cross the finish line, you could do it.
I love that the families know that there's a community here to support them.
We've had families from Kansas, from Chicago, and from Iowa. I don't hear of any other
hospitals that do anything for kids with cerebral palsy like Children's Hospital does.
Over four to five hundred volunteers were there and they got to see what kids of a cerebral palsy look like which
increases awareness. I liked watching the athletes of course. I like watching the
volunteers respond to the athletes. It's a win-win situation for everybody that's involved.
When she comes here, it really makes her feel like I could be an Olympian. It
It doesn't matter what your kids ability is it doesn't matter what their cognitive
level is, get them involved. You will not regret getting involved with this. Once you have experienced this
event you'll come back. It's going to grow and become bigger and better.