Welcome. My Why.

     Hey everyone! I am really excited to launch Snapper49 and do what I can to make a difference in the community. While I have been fortunate until now health wise, I have seen what illness can do to the ones we love and our families. My great aunt on my mom's side was a big part of my life since I was born. When I was 14 she passed away from a brain tumor. She was 56. It was a big loss for our family. It was sudden and unexpected. I also grew up with my grandma on my dads side who, when she was in her 20's, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She was able to defy the odds and lived far beyond her prognosis of 6 months to live. She lived 30 more uneventful years before she started losing her ability to walk and talk due to the treatments she had in the early 80's. She eventually ended up being diagnosed with cancer in her ear and in July of 2020 she passed. Medicine has come a long way since the 80's and a big part of that is the research and strides made from charity donations.

     While losing my great aunt and grandma was difficult, there are many children who are faced with the same or similar fates. It is heart breaking to think that, in some cases, they may not get a second chance like my grandma did. I have seen first hand what the hero's at children's hospitals are capable of. When we were kid's I was out playing in the woods with my younger brother. We were standing on a manhole cover that gave way as we plunged into the cold December water of a well. We couldn't get out. After treading water for nearly 30 minutes, my aunt found us and pulled us from that hole. It's a long and harrowing story that I may tell in length one day, but today it's about the hero's that saved my brothers life. When we were pulled from the well, my brother passed out and became hypothermic. They worked on him in the ambulance, at the first hospital he was taken to, and then at the children's hospital. His body temperature went as low as 80 degrees. At one point there were 6-7 nurses and doctors rubbing and warming him with their hands and special heating blankets. Thankfully, because of their expertise and equipment developed through years of research, he made a full recovery.