Run for Little Hearts Seventh Annual Awareness and Fundraising Event
May 9, 2020 will be the seventh annual Run for Little Hearts CHD awareness and fundraising event. Read on to learn about this event, CHD Babies, congenital heart defects, and what you can do to help.
About Congenital Heart Defects
A congenital heart defect (CHD) is an imperfection in the cardiovascular structure of a newborn. This can be a defect in the structure of either the heart or the major arteries or blood vessels. Commonly, such defects block the flow of blood through the heart or nearby blood vessels, producing an abnormal blood-flow pattern. Other types of heart defects can impact the rhythm of the heart’s beat.
There are both genetic and environmental causes of CHD and over 35 different kinds of CHD in existence, making CHD even harder to detect and diagnose and, therefore, promptly treat than other congenital conditions. Moreover, CHD cannot always be detected by a standard prenatal ultrasound exam, and many CHDs have no immediately observable signs or symptoms. That’s why education, awareness, and more specific and systematic testing for CHD are essential to combating this illness and saving children’s lives.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CHD is the most common kind of birth defect, affecting about one in every 100 births annually in the U.S. It is also the leading cause of birth-related deaths. In 2010 alone, approximately 1 million children in the U.S. had a CHD. Once a child is born with a CHD, that condition remains with the child throughout his or her life, which helps explain why, also in 2010, 1.4 million adults in the U.S. had a CHD.
CHD can lead children to experience stunted growth and development and develop learning disabilities and emotional difficulties, and it prevents them from participating in athletic activities and poses a greater risk of stroke. In some cases, treatment with medication is sufficient while other CHD patients must undergo open-heart surgery to survive. Others may require more than one surgery or procedure. Children with CHD must visit a cardiologist throughout their lives and must always keep their heart defects in mind as they make life choices both large and small.
About CHD Babies
CHD Babies is a nonprofit organization founded by Lee’s Summit resident Kelly Manz. Kelly’s daughter Chloe was born in 2008 with critical congenital heart defects. CHD Babies raises awareness about CHD and funds to benefit research and care for kids with CHD. Store it Forward partner CHD Babies also played a leading role in the passage of a law Kelly Manz wrote in 2009, Chloe’s Law, in honor of her daughter.
At the same time as she founded CHD Babies and worked to pass Chloe’s Law, Kelly Manz also attended to her daughter’s own health care, supporting her through multiple surgeries, oxygen tanks and feeding tubes, physical, speech, and occupational therapies, and one new diagnosis after another. At the time of this writing, Chloe is 11 years old and still winning her battle against CHD.
About Chloe’s Law
After a four-year battle for its passage, Chloe’s Law finally went into effect in Missouri on January 1, 2014. Chloe’s Law requires newborn screenings to now include a pulse oximetry screening before babies are discharged from the birthing facility. This test can help identify CHD in newborns and, if found, initiate potentially lifesaving treatment. As with any disease, the earlier CHD is detected, the quicker it can be treated and the greater the chances the patient will survive and proceed to live a more normal life.
About RUN FOR HEART HEROES!
The 2020 RUN FOR HEART HEROES! event features a superhero theme. Known as Kansas City’s exclusive CHD awareness event, the RUN FOR HEART HEROES! takes place at Arrowhead Stadium from 8:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. and includes each participant’s choice of five different courses:
- The Flash Dash – for participants 10 years old and younger
- The Avenger Awareness Walk
- The Caped Crusader 5K
- The Hulk Smash 10K
The fifth option is to be a “Virtual Runner” who doesn’t attend the event but does receive a race package in the mail. This race package, which all participants attending the event also receive, includes a race shirt, a race bib containing tickets for the multiple food trucks available, and a custom finisher’s medal.
The event will also contain a variety of entertainment for children, including an exotic petting zoo, a mobile video game theater called Game Kart Party, face painting, inflatables, and live superheroes in attendance.
Adults, as well as children age 2 and older, are required to register in order to attend RUN FOR HEART HEROES! Registration costs $20. CHD Babies cannot grant refunds on registration, but registration is transferable if you’re unable to make the event yourself.
The annual Run for Little Hearts event attracts more than 2,500 attendees and, between 2014 and 2019, has raised $125,000 for the CHD Babies Fund for CHD Research at Children’s Mercy Hospital, the CHD Families Inpatient Fund at Children’s Mercy Hospital, and Little Light Foundation.
If you wish to attend the RUN FOR HEART HEROES! event, you can register here. Alternatively, you can volunteer for Run for Little Hearts if you wish to participate without walking or running one of the courses. If you can’t attend the event, you can still donate to CHD Babies and support the cause of saving and improving the lives of CHD babies and kids. To contact CHD Babies directly with any questions or comments about the organization or event, you can send them a message using the CHD Babies contact form.