02-26-2007The Kerlin family are the ambassadors for this year’s Kosciusko County WalkAmerica, which will be April 22.
WalkAmerica¨ is an annual fundraiser for the March of Dimes¨, which provides support for children born prematurely.
March of Dimes was started by President Franklin Roosevelt in the late 1930s for polio research, through which the Salk Vaccine was developed. Support moved to birth defects, and since 2003 has focused on premature births. More than a half million premature births are recorded each year in the United States.
Camille Elizabeth Kerlin was born Jan. 3, 1997, weighing only 2 pounds, 14 ounces, to Rick and Diane Kerlin. Born prematurely at 29 weeks, she was immediately transferred to the newborn intensive care unit at Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne, where she was diagnosed with a heart condition within hours. The serious heart defect caused the blood to flow backwards through the heart, resulting in a dangerously low level of oxygen in the blood. She also had a hole between her ventricles, other heart problems and an infection.
Camille was transferred to Riley Hospital for Children by ambulance, followed by her dad and grandfather. She was initially given a 5 percent chance of survival. As soon as Diane was released from the hospital, her dad took her to Riley, which became their home for the next 2-1/2 months. Camille had her first heart surgery in early February, weighing only 3 pounds.
After 2-1/2 months, Camille began to improve, and she was discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit to the Kerlins’ home in Warsaw. Over the next two years, the Kerlins transported Camille back and forth to Riley for follow-ups. In April 1999, she had her first open-heart surgery. She was in surgery for 14 hours.
In 2001, a stent was inserted in Camille’s heart to hold the artificial valve open. Her latest open heart surgery was in August 2004. Camille now is 10 and an honors student at Lincoln Elementary School, but she continues to have heart problems. In addition to monitoring her heart, any other health problems must be specially watched. For example, she broke her arm in 2002, and needed to be at a surgical facility with pediatric anesthesiologists and cardiovascular surgeons available.
Diane has nothing but praise for Riley Hospital. She said, “I would recommend that you stop by Riley for a visit if you have never been there. You will see children everywhere with all kinds of medical problems. How lucky we are to have such a facility close to home. As you can see, Riley has truly been a blessing for our family and has changed our lives forever.”
The Kosciusko County WalkAmerica will be April 22, and starts and ends at Edgewood Middle School. Registration begins at noon and the Walk starts at 1 p.m.
Anyone interested in having a team is invited to the Kosciusko County Captain’s Kick-off meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, hosted by Zimmer at their Administration Building, 345 E. Main St., Warsaw. For more information on WalkAmerica, visit www.marchofdimes.com/Indiana
To register to walk, call the northeast division of Indiana chapter at 800-921-9255 or e-mail the community director for the Warsaw walk, Mike Stetzel, at mstetzel@marchofdimes.com