Hello! Welcome to my Briggs & Al's Run & Walk fundraising page. This event and the mission it supports mean a lot to me and I am thrilled you took the time to stop by. Thank you.

Why am I doing this?

When I started my motherhood journey 5 ½ years ago, I never imagined that right before my son’s 5th birthday I would be fundraising in his memory instead of getting him ready for kindergarten or planning a big party. How could I? When I found out I was pregnant I was terrified for a lot of reasons, but never once did I think, maybe he will die before he turns 2.

That’s the thing about infant/childhood illness. You don’t know until you know. You can drive past Children’s Wisconsin a million times and never imagine that it will become an integral part of your life.

Luckily for me, when I found out something was wrong, I was at the hospital right next to Children’s. Within an hour of my maternal fetal medicine doctor saying “the ultrasound shows some abnormalities,” I had a Children’s neonatologist and neurologist holding my hand, mentally and physically. I had a nurse that promised to walk with me through this and she kept that promise. It was the first spot of light I saw after that ultrasound plunged me into a world of darkness.

It’s easy to sum up Asher’s life in terms of his health. 15+ overnight hospital stays, 2 surgeries, 3 weeks in the NICU, 2 PICU stints. 12+ specialists, a G-tube, oxygen concentrator, clubfoot boots and bars. More diagnoses than we could count, most of which we could pronounce. Weekly therapy appointments, EEG after EEG, daily seizures, MRIs so often he didn’t have to be sedated because it was so normal for him. One ambulance ride, multiple 90 MPH races down I94 because we didn’t have time to wait, phlebotomists that were always shocked he didn’t even flinch when he was stuck, desk receptionists that greeted us by name and considered a week a long time since they had seen us.

Asher’s life and our Children’s journey was so much more than that though. It’s hard to put into words the magic that happens inside those hospital doors. The kindness and love that was poured into us during our Children’s journey is more than I could have ever hoped for. Every single person (okay almost everyone) we encountered there went above and beyond to make sure Asher had the absolute best quality of life he could and that my family and I were cared for and supported throughout it.

So today, I am fundraising in honor of what should have been Asher’s 5th Birthday. I am hoping to raise $5,000 to ensure that families to come will know the same incredible care that we did during our Children’s journey.