Record low temperatures on October 30, 2011 did not slow down those honouring NAIT survivors by running in the 10K Big Hit Marathon in Louisville, KY. A team of ten close friends and family ran alongside survivor Finn Hickey. The team wore informative NAIT apparel as they raced through historic downtown Louisville and finished on home plate in the Slugger Field stadium. Finn, age 2, was pushed in a jogging stroller adorned with beautiful red and yellow NAIT awareness ribbons. Included in that team were his parents, Erin and Sean Hickey. Erin organized the event “ I wanted to display a physical way of honouring Finn and other survivors in their fight against NAIT, while spreading awareness about a disease that affects more Caucasian babies than Downs Syndrome or Spina bifida.” Finn suffered an intracranial haemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) while in utero. He was born via caesarean section due purely to his mother’s instincts. Doctors say this saved his life. “Finn was blessed to be born in a hospital that still does blood tests as standard. He also was diagnosed by an Internist/Paediatrician that recognized NAIT within hours of birth.”
This is not usually the case. Studies show that 30% of babies with NAIT go home undiagnosed. Today Finn suffers no residual effects from his ICH. His neonatal team has voiced their amazement in his development. These occurrences are what pushed Sean to coordinate an awareness running team. While recruiting members, James Peterson, a relative of Sean’s and a physician’s assistant in Tennessee, not only volunteered to run the race but agreed to run all his races from that point on for NAIT awareness. James has run over 1400 official race miles this year, 47 of those miles were for NAIT. He placed tenth overall and first in his age group in the Big Hit Marathon. After the race he remarked that his new knowledge about survivors and the lack of awareness was his motivation to run his fastest yet, 7 minute miles. Erin plans to continue her fight for awareness, “My goal is not to stop until I know that mothers are being asked if they want prenatal screening for NAIT.”
Marin MacCallum