Christopher Moore
Member
She's still at it...please donate if you can. Keep Trac'n. God Bless.
Chris
Mom takes fundraising to heart
Son's leukemia spurs woman to raise $5,000 over required amount
BY DAVID QUICK
The Post and Courier
For nearly two years, the lives of Kimberly and Christopher Moore have focused on helping their toddler son, Zachary, battle a dreadful disease.
Last winter, the Moores were living in England, where Christopher was stationed with the Air Force, when the couple noticed some mysterious red dots on the inside of one of Zachary's elbows.
They took him to their doctor, but he couldn't explain tiny broken blood vessels, so he took a blood sample. As soon as the sample results showed that Zachary's white blood cell count was elevated, the doctor called back. He wanted to draw more blood but didn't offer any diagnosis.
Kimberly, who was nearly five months pregnant at the time, may have shown some maternal instinct at that moment: "The first thing that popped into my head was leukemia. I didn't know anything about it, but that's what I thought."
And, unfortunately, she was right.
On March 10, 2005, the 18-month-old was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Since then, the family, which now includes 17-month-old daughter Jaden, moved to Summerville and has been in and out of the hospital for Zachary's chemotherapy treatments and bouts with infections, the latest of which included a two-week stint in the hospital that ended on Christmas Eve.
"It's been a roller coaster ride," Kimberly said. "He (Zachary) has been through the wringer."
For most people, dealing with that circumstance and an infant would be plenty.
But late last summer, Kimberly was compelled to do more.
She found out about the local Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program, and despite "hating running," decided to train for a marathon through the society's fundraising program.
"I wanted to do something proactive to help," said the 28-year-old stay-at-home mom. "I often feel helpless, but by training and raising money for the Leukemia Society, we'll eventually cure the disease and no one will have to go through this."
Even though Kimberly was required to raise only $2,100 to do the program and run the Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon on Feb. 17, she has to date raised $7,753 from nearly 200 people, some of whom the Moores don't know. Part of that is due to Web site links to www.active.com/donate/tntsc/tntscKMoore. Christopher, who works as the Charleston Air Force Base public affairs chief, also posted information on Kimberly's endeavor on neighborhood and South Carolina Gamecock fan Web sites.
He said he is proud of Kimberly not only for being a loving, caring mother, and raising the money, but also for enduring the running, which she grew up despising because she had to wear a back brace for scoliosis as a girl and it restricted her breathing and movement.
"She's not a runner and never wanted to run," said Christopher, who must run to pass military physical tests and had tried to lure her out on runs. "Now she's run more than I have."
In fact, Kimberly has gone from suffering from knee pain after just running three miles and "feeling tired all the time" to being undaunted at the idea of logging 18-mile training runs.
"Running has helped me deal with some of the stresses of (Zachary) being sick. It gives me some time to be with myself. ... It's a good escape."
And as for her date with 26.2 miles of pavement in the Grand Strand, Kimberly said, "I will finish it even if I have to crawl to the finish line."
Reach David Quick at 937-5516 or [email protected].
Chris
Mom takes fundraising to heart
Son's leukemia spurs woman to raise $5,000 over required amount
BY DAVID QUICK
The Post and Courier
For nearly two years, the lives of Kimberly and Christopher Moore have focused on helping their toddler son, Zachary, battle a dreadful disease.
Last winter, the Moores were living in England, where Christopher was stationed with the Air Force, when the couple noticed some mysterious red dots on the inside of one of Zachary's elbows.
They took him to their doctor, but he couldn't explain tiny broken blood vessels, so he took a blood sample. As soon as the sample results showed that Zachary's white blood cell count was elevated, the doctor called back. He wanted to draw more blood but didn't offer any diagnosis.
Kimberly, who was nearly five months pregnant at the time, may have shown some maternal instinct at that moment: "The first thing that popped into my head was leukemia. I didn't know anything about it, but that's what I thought."
And, unfortunately, she was right.
On March 10, 2005, the 18-month-old was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Since then, the family, which now includes 17-month-old daughter Jaden, moved to Summerville and has been in and out of the hospital for Zachary's chemotherapy treatments and bouts with infections, the latest of which included a two-week stint in the hospital that ended on Christmas Eve.
"It's been a roller coaster ride," Kimberly said. "He (Zachary) has been through the wringer."
For most people, dealing with that circumstance and an infant would be plenty.
But late last summer, Kimberly was compelled to do more.
She found out about the local Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program, and despite "hating running," decided to train for a marathon through the society's fundraising program.
"I wanted to do something proactive to help," said the 28-year-old stay-at-home mom. "I often feel helpless, but by training and raising money for the Leukemia Society, we'll eventually cure the disease and no one will have to go through this."
Even though Kimberly was required to raise only $2,100 to do the program and run the Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon on Feb. 17, she has to date raised $7,753 from nearly 200 people, some of whom the Moores don't know. Part of that is due to Web site links to www.active.com/donate/tntsc/tntscKMoore. Christopher, who works as the Charleston Air Force Base public affairs chief, also posted information on Kimberly's endeavor on neighborhood and South Carolina Gamecock fan Web sites.
He said he is proud of Kimberly not only for being a loving, caring mother, and raising the money, but also for enduring the running, which she grew up despising because she had to wear a back brace for scoliosis as a girl and it restricted her breathing and movement.
"She's not a runner and never wanted to run," said Christopher, who must run to pass military physical tests and had tried to lure her out on runs. "Now she's run more than I have."
In fact, Kimberly has gone from suffering from knee pain after just running three miles and "feeling tired all the time" to being undaunted at the idea of logging 18-mile training runs.
"Running has helped me deal with some of the stresses of (Zachary) being sick. It gives me some time to be with myself. ... It's a good escape."
And as for her date with 26.2 miles of pavement in the Grand Strand, Kimberly said, "I will finish it even if I have to crawl to the finish line."
Reach David Quick at 937-5516 or [email protected].
