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Parents: Research saves lives
March of Dimes
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The Sokol family of Hubbard are the Mahoning Valley Ambassadors for March of Dimes.
The Mahoning Valley March of Dimes ambassadors are Robby and Andrew Sokol of Hubbard.
BOARDMAN — The 2009 national and local child ambassadors for the March of Dimes are living proof that its sponsored research is saving lives, say their parents.
National ambassador Katelyn Marie Hall, 5, and her parents, Ashley and Michael of Leesburg, Va., made the first of several appearances in the area Wednesday at Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley.
They were joined by Mahoning Valley ambassadors, twins Andrew and Robby Sokol, and their parents, Steve and Lisa of Hubbard.
“We’re not public speakers, but it’s easy to tell our story,” said Katelyn’s father, who said his daughter would not be alive were it not for March of Dimes-funded research.
“We’re grateful for everything,” Katelyn’s mother said, including the help of an au pair, who travels around the country with them as they tell their story to raise awareness and money for the March of Dimes.
The Hall family has pledged to raise $1 million for March of Dimes, the amount of money spent on Katelyn’s medical care, so the organization can help more babies and families.
Katelyn’s annual golf tournament has raised $140,000 in just three years, they said.
Katelyn was born after 25 weeks of gestation and was given a 5 percent chance of survival. She weighed less than a pound, and spend five months in the neonatal intensive care unit before going home. Now Katelyn is catching up to her peers in size, but developmentally, she is similar to a child at age 3 because of a brain injury that affected her motor skills.
Andrew and Robby Sokol weighed 2 pounds, 8 ounces and 1 pound, 5 ounces, respectively, when they were born after 26 weeks on Nov. 29, 2005, in St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.
Robby had coarctation, a narrowing of the major blood vessel coming out of the heart, and both had bleeding in the brain. Robby’s brain problem resolved itself, but Andrew’s brain had to have a shunt inserted to drain fluid and take pressure off.
Because they were born early, they were given surfactant therapy, a substance used to help lungs develop in premature babies. Without that drug, they might not have lived, said their mother, Lisa.
Steve and Lisa work in the MRI department at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown and Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley in Boardman, respectively.
The Sokols said the people they have met so far, as parents of March of Dimes ambassadors, have been very responsive. When they get to know the boys, they are very willing to help, said their mother.
She said they are starting to develop a plan for raising awareness and money for the March of Dimes in the Mahoning Valley.
The signature fundraising event for the March of Dimes is its March for Babies, formerly known as WalkAmerica. The Mahoning Valley Walk for Babies, which for the first time combines the Trumbull and Mahoning county walks, is May 17, beginning at 1 p.m., at Austintown Township Park in Austintown.
The March of Dimes’ mission is to improve pregnancy and baby health and to prevent premature births. For more information about the March of Dimes and the March for Babies, or to register for the Austintown Township Park event, call (216) 643-3330 or toll-free at (800) 686-2323 or visit marchforbabies.org.
alcorn@vindy.com