Friday, May 11, 2007

A Mother's love

I don't believe there is anything we wouldn't do for our children. That's how a parent reacts when they love their child. It must be heart wrenching to find out your child has a disease for which there is no cure - maybe a way to keep them alive for awhile.

This was the case of one woman whose child had a wheezing noise the noticed at the very onset of her tiny life. The doctors didn't think it was anything, but she was persistent. And, her fears were true - her child had a disease - being Cystic Fibrosis. The Mother went out and read everything she could read about the disease.

As she cradled her baby in her arms, she read everything she could about CF. It is an hereditary disease that causes a child's lungs, intestines and pancreas to become clogged with thick mucus. It is fatal. She'd be lucky if her daughter survived into her 20's.

Can't you just feel the anguish and hopelessness this Mother felt when she learned about the disease that would probably kill her child. And, on top of that, her second child was born with CF as well. How likely was this to happen a second time? Both parents are CF carriers, but usually there is only a 25% chance that a second child will develop this disease. We have friends whose first child was born with it but never made it home. They had two more children who were both born without the disease and are grown, healthy and married. But, I know it had to be of concern for them when they decided to have another child.

This is from Tom Purcell's column:

Hers is the story of a mother's love - a mother's powerful determination to breathe life into thousands of children.

Her name is Angela Kinney and she could use a little help. She'll be participating in the Great Strides walk in Pittsburgh on May 20th (an event that is held throughout May in cities across America). To contribute to her efforts go to www.cff.org/great_strides/angiekinney or contact her directly at angiekinney@comcast.net.

You might want to wish her a Happy Mother's Day while you're at it. She's certainly earned it.

Linked at Conservative Cat
Don Surber
Church and State

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