Welcome to our team page! Teams have a huge impact on the success of Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk and we are glad you are here!

Why are we doing this?

Our daughter Hailey Marie was born with a heart defect. She was diagnosed at my 20 week ultrasound. It was shocking and devastating for our family. Her option was open heart surgery once she was born. She was born September 23, 2015 and I was able to hold her for under 5 minutes and then they took her down to the NICU. Day 2 as I was holding my baby in the NICU she stopped breathing in my arms and she was then intubated to help her breath. By day 3 she was taken to the CICU to prepare for her 1st open heart surgery. On September 30, 2015 the team came by in the early morning and was ready for her. We walked to the “hallway” to say our last goodbyes. It was the most devastating yet humbling experience of our lives. To know that your baby at only a week old now had to fight to live was heart wrenching to even have to imagine. But also very humbling that we knew her team was there for her ready to fight with her. Seeing her for the first time after surgery was hard beyond words but knowing she survived and the surgery went well was great to know. She had a few complications throughout her recovery process and it kept us all in the hospital for 7 weeks and 1 day. I say it kept “us” because between my husband and I she never was alone. We got to take her home in time for the holidays and we were so blessed. We had multiple checkups and then an echo in June. We found out then that they were shocked she showed no signs to us that she needed surgery number 2. We were shocked so soon but packed our bags and got ready for surgery number 2 July 15, 2016. She was released July 20, 2016 and was an absolute rock star! We were elated at how quickly her body responded to the 2nd surgery. Her surgeries aren’t over yet but we are now living life and enjoying every minute of it with our Heart Hero Hailey Marie. Please help us celebrate our Hero Hailey and the fight she went through to live, not once but twice before her first birthday. She would love to see you all there!!!

The longer answer is that by running or walking in this event for Children’s Hospital, we can raise funds that 100% support the care provided to kids, from life-saving cancer and heart treatments all the way to life-changing community care. At Children’s, they say they believe kids deserve the best, and they live up to that promise — for all kids.

Time and money is precious and we owe it to ourselves to be thoughtful about causes we support.

• Children’s has the No. 1 NICU in the country, able to care for the most fragile newborns with the most daunting complications.
• Children’s places nurses in schools in at-risk communities so that kids get preventative, regular care right in their own backyard.
• Children’s funds ground-breaking research.
• Children’s is a non-profit and relies on events like this one to pay for the level of care our kids receive.

Walking as a team at Briggs & Al’s Run & Walk sends out a huge shout of support to the kids cared for by Children’s Hospital, and raises critical funds to support their care. It’s also a lot of fun, with kid-focused activities and entertainment all the way!

If you haven’t already, please join our team or help kick start fundraising with a donation of your own by clicking the donate button.