Help Me

Help me help children around the world with heart disease. Have you ever been hit with an experience that affects your daily mindset, but also calls you to act? Having two sweet young girls born with congenital heart disesase (CHD) which required open heart surgery prior to 3 months old has had that affect on me. Certainly going through this experience - twice - has caused me to focus much more on the present day. As I sat by my younger girl Kellyn's bedside as she recovered from surgery this fall, I couldn't help but be struck by how fortunate I felt. Yes - fortunate. As horrific as the diagnosis, high risk birth and surgery had been, we still were very fortunate in that we knew about this issue and had an opportunity for surgery. We had the opportunity in part because of the fact that my girls were born in this country. Many children born with CHD do not have that opportunity. I wanted to help provide that opportunity to a family who's child born with CHD.

I came across an organization, the International Children's Heart Foundation (ICHF), who specializing in providing those opportunities to children overseas. This fantastic organization works all around the world - India, Peru, Russia, Pakistan, and many other countries - providing surgeries to families on long waiting lists. They typically spend 2 weeks in a given country and perform about 20 surgeries per trip. They estimate it costs about $2,000 per child to perform a surgery. Speaking from personal experience this is a fraction of what it costs stateside. I quickly decided to shoot for raising $2K to sponsor a surgery.

I decided that my first effort to raise funds for ICHF would be a run. Specifically in 2011 I would run the New York City Half Marathon and ask my friends and family to financially support this effort. Why the NYC Half? Its high profile, early in the year and a race I wouldn't feel like a neglegent parent training for.

I'd like you to consider supporting me (and my girls Kellyn, Evie and Ruth) in this effort. Perhaps you would be willing to contribute to this effort or organize a fundraiser? I've established a secure website through active.com to coordinate this effort - http://www.active.com/donate/doyle_run_4_hearts - you may make a donation ananomously or contact me directly should you prefer an offline contribution.

The race is coming up quick (March 20th) so your consideration in the approaching months is most appreciated. Let's give it a shot and see if we can sponsor a surgery! I'll be ramping up the mileage in the Ithaca winter while trying to shake my plantar facitis! Thanks for your time and consideration.