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Medford kids join Miles for Miracles walk
June 2, 2005 - Two Medford families will be among the teams raising
money to support pediatric research and patient care at Miles
for Miracles, Children's Hospital Boston's annual pledge walk,
which will take place Saturday, June 18.
Miles for Miracles brings patient families, friends and hospital
staff together for a day of fun, food and exercise along the Charles
River. Last year, more than 2,300 walkers joined official walk
mascots - Farley the Tortoise and Hunne the Hare - in support
of Children's, raising $510,000. Funds from Miles for Miracles
are directed toward unrestricted charitable support, allowing
the hospital to allocate monies to areas of greatest need: medical
care of uninsured patients, research, recruitment and training
and capital projects.
Team Halo will walk in honor of Medford residents Shannon O'Donnell,10,
and Deidre Carbone, 9, - two close friends - who are both Children's
patients.
O'Donnell was diagnosed at age 6 with primary
pulmonary hypertension, a rare condition in which the blood
vessels in the lungs have a much higher pressure than normal,
causing shortness of breath and the inability to do normal activities.
Her initial condition was severe and life-threatening and although
a lung transplant was considered, doctors decided to first try
drug therapy to reduce her pulmonary hypertension.
Today, O'Donnell wears a backpack at all times that carries her
medicine and extra oxygen. She's named the backpack Halo, as it
is her angel looking over her as she goes through every minute
of every day.
While a lung transplant is still a possibility further down the
line, doctors are pleased with her progress.
Carbone has been a Children's patient since she was 11 months
old. She suffers from mild mitral stenosis - a narrowing or obstruction
of the opening of the mitral valve, which separates the upper
and lower chambers on the left side of the heart. The condition
prevents adequate blood flow between the left atrium and ventricle.
Doctors have stabilized her condition and she returns to Children's
annually for an echocardiogram to monitor her heart.
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