Alex's Run for a Reason

While my family rejoices the birth of my sister's new baby girl, I'd like to get serious for a moment and tell you a little bit about Alex. She was the adorable daughter of a woman I used to work with. On Feb. 5, 2006, Alex never woke up. To this day the cause of her death is still unknown. The sudden, unexpected loss of 22-month-old Alexandra Richardson has motivated her parents, Brian and Danna Richardson, to organize the fundraising event Alex's Run For A Reason in honor of their little girl.

(Alex Richardson and Kevin Walsh)

The event will raise money for research into Sudden Unexplained Death in Children. SUDC is "the sudden and unexpected death of a child over the age of 12 months that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation is conducted." We've all heard of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). My parents lived through the horror of losing my eldest brother Kevin to it when he was 2 months old back in 1960 (it was called "crib death" back then). I often think of my brother I never knew and hold him close to my heart. Yet even with this in my immediate family, I'd never heard of such a thing occurring in children who are older than infants. When I first heard that little Alex had died, I assumed that they would eventually figure out she had a heart condition or a brain aneurysm. I was wrong. It's because of this -- and my enormous sympathy for the Richardson family -- that I wanted to shed some light on this little-publicized topic.

Here are the details:
Sunday, Oct. 29, at Newbridge Road Park -- Bellmore, N.Y.
Registration will begin at 8:30
2 Mile Family Fun Run/Walk will begin at 10 a.m.
Children's Activities: Will take place in the playground area of the park and will include, games, music, face painting, children'’s entertainers and so much more.
Refreshments: Light breakfast will be provided to all registered participants.
Raffle: A variety of prizes will be raffled off. Raffle tickets can be purchased the day of the event between 8:30 and 11 a.m.

For complete information about the event click here.
You can register online here.
For information about SUDC, click here.
For information about SIDS, click here.
Even if you can't attend, you can make a tax-deductible contribution online here. (It's the perfect time to make that end-of-the-year donation before tax time.)

Proper research is the only way to ensure that there aren't future tragic deaths like those of little Kevin and little Alex.