Jade Kennedy

1 of the reasons I run

Thursday 30th Apr

One of the reasons I have committed to this run is a very close friend of mine (family friend) has a son named Zack. When Zack was born his parents were completely unaware of how their lives would change. They have been so brave and courageous and the best parents to this strong little guy and as much as the funds don't go directly to him, they do go towards helping children like him. 

Zack is a 4 year old boy who lives with   Medical complexities - he is currently undiagnosed. All genetic testing that we have access to have shown no results pointing to an existing Diagnosis. He has been in and out of hospitals since birth for surgeries and respiratory support for respiratory viruses. We (the parents) moved to Canada in 2022 and within 10 months Zack had his first admission to BC Children’s hospital following a a very scary and prolonged episode of Rhinoentero Virus. Since that day BC Children’s has become like a 2nd home. Many of the medical staff in the ICU know Zack by name. We have received the most incredible medical care and support in every admission.. and yes being one of the best children’s hospitals in the world you’d expect the expertise to be near unmatched but it goes far beyond that when you become a “frequent flyer” in the PICU. It’s not just about the meds, and diagnosis, it’s about the whole picture - family support, mental health, personal care for both Zack and us as his caregivers. I consider BC Children’s a home away from home - which may be sad to some but in our journey with Zack it’s made each admission, no matter how scary, a little bit more bareable.

It is our hope that funds raised through the month of May could go to research and studies into further genetic testing to help kids like Zack who live with medical complexities.

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