Welcome to our page for team 'BORN BRAVE'! We (Frank and Sara) have created this team in honor of our daughter Emily and in memory of our daughter (Emily's twin sister) Claire.  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 identical twin daughters, Emily and Claire, were born at 25 weeks, 6 days gestation (14 weeks early).  It was a difficult pregnancy, to say the least.  We were diagnosed with Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) at 20 weeks, and the statistics we were given were rather grim.  To give our girls the best chance, we chose to have an emergency laparoscopic laser surgery to separate their shared blood vessels.  The surgery was successful, but it caused Sara's water to break at 24 weeks.  The doctors at Frodtert were able to stop labor until 25 weeks, 6 days, when the girls were born by emergency c-section on November 7, 2015.  They were both breathing and rushed to the NICU at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.  Emily weighed 1 lb 14 oz and Claire weighed 1 lb 1 oz.  Emily made it through the NICU in 75 days; she came home at the end of January 2016, weighing in at 5lbs exactly.  She is now a happy, spunky, mischievous little lady, and is doing wonderful.  Claire, unfortunately, passed away after 54 days in the NICU.  She fought hard her entire 54 days, and we're so grateful to have had the chance to hold her, kiss her, and love on her.  She had a sweet little personality, and is missed every day.  Our girls were “Born Brave” and have challenged us and others to find our bravery.  Being brave is not something you can learn or be taught, but is with us from birth and has to be summoned to conquer adversity, make the tough decisions, and defeat unimaginable odds.  

So, in short we want to give back to the NICU at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.  We want to support research for premature infants so that all premature babies are given the best chance at life.

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.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.