Published: May 06, 2008 12:28 pm            

Fun Run set for May 17

Event to raise money for spinal cord injuries therapy program

By Leia Jobe

reporter2@trcle.com



The inaugural Godley Chamber of Commerce Fun Run to benefit therapy patients with spinal cord injuries has been set for May 17.

The run, which will kick off the Godley Spring Blowout, was organized by the chamber and the McKittrick family, whose young daughter is recovering from a spinal cord injury.

Meritt McKittrick, 7, was paralyzed from the waist down on April 28, 2006, when a drunk driver struck the family’s car at 60 mph. The impact left Meritt McKittrick’s mother, Tara McKittrick, 29, with an amputated right leg.

Thanks to a prosthetic leg, Tara is now able to run, but Meritt McKittrick’s recovery has been slower. Doctors didn’t think she would ever walk again, Tara McKittrick said.

“It was real frustrating,” she said. “The hospital and all the doctors here said there was no therapy for spinal cord injuries like Meritt’s, or if they do therapy, they don’t work with children.”

Along with husband Matt McKittrick, Tara McKittrick began a desperate search for a therapy program that could teach their daughter to walk again.

From a friend at work, Matt McKittrick heard about a program called Project Walk with facilities in San Diego, Boston and Portland.

The Project Walk program uses a nontraditional approach to spinal cord injury recovery called The Dardzinski Method, a procedure developed by exercise specialist Ted Dardzinski.

“It’s a wonderful place,” Tara McKittrick said. “They’ve had tons of success. They emphasize the core and the abs using lots of common equipment, but it’s how they use it that’s different. They’re basically waking up the nervous system.”

The McKittrick family traveled to the Carlsbad clinic, outside San Diego, for the first time on Feb. 4. Meritt McKittrick is already reaping the benefits.

“She’s gotten stronger,” Tara McKittrick said. “She can do a push-up now, and she can crawl. Before she couldn’t feel anything below her belly button, and now she has feeling down to the top of her thighs.”

The therapy costs $100 an hour, and patients typically attend two-hour sessions five days a week.

“It can get pretty expensive,” Tara McKittrick said. “We kind of thought that a 5K would be a good way to raise some money for other patients at the Project Walk Center to make treatment more affordable.”

Spinal cord injuries can cost a patient more than $2.5 million in a lifetime, according to a Project Walk informational brochure.

Fun Run proceeds will benefit Project Walk patients, including Meritt McKittrick, and the relocation of a Project Walk center to Austin.

“We’d love to be able to help others do what we did,” Tara McKittrick said.

Meritt McKittrick will attend the event and will probably help by handing out bottled water to participants, her mother said.

“She’s just a super kid,” Tara McKittrick said. “She’s always happy and singing. She doesn’t complain. She just works really hard.”

Fundraising events include a one-mile fun run and a 5K run and walk.

Participants will receive T-shirts, and winners in each category will receive awards.

“We’d love to have a good turnout,” Tara McKittrick said.

Fun Run participants will meet at 7 a.m. in the parking lot of Godley Middle School for registration and to pick up their free T-shirts.

Registration fees for all participants on the day of the race will be $15. Fees postmarked by Friday will be $10 for participants under 18 or 65 and older and $12 for all others.

Entry forms and fees can be mailed to Fara Freeman c/o Fun Run at 600 Reynolds Road, Godley, TX 76044.

Donations are also being accepted.

“The Fun Run will kick off the Godley Spring Blowout,” Godley Chamber of Commerce President Jean Freeman said.

Vendor booths will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a street dance from 5-10 p.m. and a crawfish boil sponsored by the Godley High School Band from 4-8 p.m.

All proceeds from the Spring Blowout will be used for the purchase of new playground equipment for the Godley City Park, Freeman said.

For information, call 817-389-2804.

        

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