This year celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) Walk. This year's celebration will be totally unique in that it will be a party in Disney California Adventure Park on August 27th, 2022!
or join Rosanna's Team here:
JOIN COLIN AND ZACHARY'S FAN CLUB
We are both working together to raise funds for CHOC! And the funds I raise are going right into Rosanna's Team!
It is very fitting that the 30th Anniversary of the CHOC Walk is taking place in a Disney Park. The relationship between CHOC and Disney goes back to 1960 with Walt Disney himself! Over $37.5 million has been raised just between CHOC and The Disneyland Resort!
The fundraising goes towards the millions of children that enter CHOC to get the care they need. This year I am partnering with my lovely friend Rosanna and her family who have a very personal connection to CHOC and below is their story in her words:
On July 30, 2008, I went into labor two months early. It was my first pregnancy after almost two years of trying to get pregnant. I was pregnant with two boys, my Zachary and my Colin. It was a high-risk pregnancy from the start. I almost lost them very early on.
When I went into labor two months early, we rushed to St. Joseph’s hospital and I was sent to do an emergency C-section. Zachary was born first, teeny tiny with a mighty cry, but his lungs weren’t fully developed and he had to be taken to CHOC’s NICU across the street.
Colin was silent at birth and when I begged to see him and he wasn’t brought to me right away, I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t admit it to myself. They eventually wrapped him up tight and brought him to me. He held my finger tightly and I thought it might be okay.
While I recovered from my surgery, Colin and Zachary went straight to CHOC’s NICU. Colin was in his own room and Zachary in the regular NICU.
Colin’s condition was extremely serious. The CHOC nurses were amazing and went above and beyond to make him as comfortable as they could. When he left us on August 5, 2008, they made sure he was surrounded by our family, surrounded by love as he went on to a better place. They grieved along side us and checked on us daily.
Zachary stayed in the NICU for a month while his lungs and heart grew stronger. We had many scares when he would just randomly stop breathing, but he was diligently cared for by his amazing nurse.
It was the most bittersweet time of our lives. Here we had our amazing Zachary, who was tiny but a mighty fighter, making leaps and bounds thanks to CHOC’s care. But we also were in the most pain we had ever been in having lost our little Colin. The nurses, doctors, and staff were amazing. Not only were our boys well-cared for, but they cared for us, too. We were, understandably, struggling.
When Zachary finally came home a month later, we were terrified new parents, but we had been given so many tools and so much advice to help us through the transition. We are FOREVER grateful to all of the staff at CHOC for the help they provided us!
They saved our Zachary’s life again when he was in first grade and had a horrible asthma attack that sent him to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for 5 days. We thought we were going to lose him. It was terrifying, but again, CHOC’s team of nurses, doctors, and staff went above and beyond for our sweet boy and he came home to celebrate Christmas with us.
We have made sure both Zachary and Elliott’s health insurance is affiliated with CHOC. We can’t thank them enough. This is why we donate. This is why we did the CHOC Walk for years. This is why we are excited to participate in the 30th Anniversary of the CHOC Walk and to see it re-imagined as the CHOC Adventure in the Park!
And it's families like my friend Rosanna that we are raising funds for. She made this touching video below to thank everyone at CHOC for what they do and for her family and for hundreds of other families like hers!
