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Fighting America’s #1 Birth Defect: Graeme’s Family Fun Run, February 25, 2017

by Jill Jarvis Leave a Comment

From Houston Mom, Stephanie:

On December 18, 2012 our son, Graeme, was born. We had an emergency delivery after the doctor detected his heart rate in the 70s at my 34 week appointment. He was diagnosed with Double Outlet Right Ventricle, Malposed Great Vessels, VSD, Coarctation of the Aorta, Straddling Mitral Valve, Aortic Valve Hypoplasia, and Complete Heart Block.

mcdaniel-graemes-fun-run
He was rushed to the Texas Medical Center where he underwent a coarctation repair, a pacemaker was placed, and a Pulmonary Artery band was placed. With 2 surgeries under his belt our little trooper was released from the hospital after 44 days. After living a happy and for the most part normal life, we lost our sweet angel on May 3, 2015 at 2 1/2 years old.

We were devastated, and still are in complete shock, as we are left to try to find our new normal and purpose.

We have decided to put our energy into raising awareness and funds for Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) research. We knew nothing about heart defects before Graeme and were shocked to learn:

  • Congenital heart defects are America’s and every country’s #1 birth defect. Nearly 1 of every 100 babies is born with a CHD.
  • Congenital heart defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths.
  • Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States.
  • Each year approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a congenital heart defect. Thousands of them will not reach their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.
  • Each year over 1,000,000 babies are born worldwide with a congenital heart defect. 100,000 of them will not live to see their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.

The Children’s Heart Foundation (CHF) has contributed an astounding $8.4 million toward revolutionary congenital heart defect research studies. As the country’s leading organization solely committed to CHD research funding, CHF dedicates itself to bringing health, hope and happiness to children and families impacted by a CHD. We want to continue to be a part of that fundraising in Graeme’s honor.

With some wonderful friends we came up with the idea of a family fun run. We know everyone loves a good fun run, especially one that’s close to home and brings awareness and funds to such a great cause. This will be our second year and the date is set for February 25, 2017 (February is heart awareness month). We were able to raise over $40,000 for The Children’s Heart Foundation in 2016.

Our second Graeme’s Run will be full of fun activities for everyone! We will start with a 5K and a 1 mile family walk in Old Katy starting and ending at No Label Brewery.

  • Following the run/walk we will have:
  • No Label serving free beer
  • Food trucks (6)
  • Righteous Cause Band
  • All Around Bounce will have several bounce houses set up
  • Face Painting
  • Balloon Animals and more!

**100% of funds raised will go to The Children’s Heart Foundation

We would love for you to be a part of this great event.

Thank you for reading our story and helping us honor our precious son,
The McDaniel Family (Robby, Stephanie and Mason)

To find out more visit: www.graemessuperheroes.org
phone: 832-221-9116
email: graemessuperheroes@gmail.com
Facebook: Graeme’s Superheroes

Filed Under: All, Things to do January 9, 2017

About Jill Jarvis

Jill Jarvis is the owner of JillBJarvis.com, a BigKidSmallCity.com and Things to Do in Houston, with Kids, blog!

She is the mom of 4 and started the website years ago... when she was tired of constantly cleaning up the same mess in the family room.

Another mom showed her that you could just go do fun things in Houston, without hours of planning.

This inspired the blog and changed everything about how she enjoyed life in Houston, with kids!

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jill-jarvis-bigkidsmallcity-circle-300 Welcome!  JillBJarvis.com is the go-to blog for things to do in Houston with kids!  It is upbeat and dedicated to making our big city feel small.   START HERE!    

On this website you will find a full list of Houston weekly events, things to do around the city, travel ideas and resources for parents.

I know just what it’s like to be overwhelmed by work, life and family. I spent a lot of years traveling for work, missing big milestones for my kids and feeling bad about everything.

I started this website to make a list of all the events happening around Houston and then pick one to enjoy with my kids. And instead of thinking of all the things I was missing, I started to enjoy the things we were doing together.

If you are a parent that is feeling overwhelmed by all the things you could be doing in Houston… please just use our weekly lists and daily posts as suggestions. Pick one thing to do with your family and intentionally ignore the rest!

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