MAKE YANCEY'S PAIN JULIANA'S GAIN !!!

Coach Spurrier, like Coach Holtz before him, has challenged us as students, friends, and alumni of the University of South Carolina to accomplish more than we thought we could, to be better than we believed possible, and to help those less fortunate when ever possible.  Juliana Wetmore has given me the opportunity to meet all three of those challenges.

I was watching a medical show on TV Christmas Eve when I saw a special on Juliana.  She was born with Treacher Collins syndrome which causes a loss of much of the cranial bone structure.  Much of her short life has been devoted to trips from her Jacksonville home to her Miami surgeon.  None of this has dampened her exuberant personality however!  I am continually amazed at the strength of character, resilience of spirit, and zest for life displayed by Juliana, her mother, Tami, father, Thom, and sister, Kendra.

Thom is a career navy man so they have good basic insurance.  The incidental costs that they incur are staggering however.  In addition to the travel and lodging costs for the trips to see Dr. Wolfe, Juliana's surgeon, there is the fee for Juliana's nurse.   The entire family has had to learn sign language.  You can help defray these costs.  I have decided to attempt a 10 kilometer (6.2 miles!) run at the end of March.  I am 57 years old and have never undertaken any such thing.   I have been training daily and have managed a 5K so far.  On March 31 I will take part in the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC.  Please join me in supporting this extraordinary family by making a donation to Juliana based on my mileage.  At $1 per kilometer that is a $10 donation.  $10 for every painful klick I run equals a $100 gift. I know some children who are pledging 10 cents per klick for a $1 pledge of their own.  JOIN US!

You can read more about Juliana here: http://www.julianawetmore.net/
Donations can be mailed to Thom and Tami Wetmore PO Box 65852, Orange Park, FL 32065
Gifts may also be made by PayPal to gunnythom19@hotmail.com
Learn more about the Cooper River Bridge Run here: http://www.bridgerun.com/
Any words of encouragement or running technique can be sent to me here: YanceyHelps@aol.com