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| Home>In the News>Asbury Park Press 5-2004 |
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In the News Reprinted from the Asbury Park Press - May 27 2004 Local
News - Parents Honor Late Son with Heart Fundraising Race Grieving parents Andrew and Lauren Kaiser of Middletown never will get over the loss of their 6-year-old son, Ryan Andrew, they said, but have made a promise to help others financially through the Ryan Andrew Kaiser Memorial Foundation. The couple began the foundation a few months after Ryan died of cardiac arrest Jan. 25, 2003. “We have a substantial amount of money to give away,” Andrew Kaiser said. He said the foundation, a 501c-3 charitable organization, has received donations from family members, friends and business acquaintances since its beginning. The foundation has a six-figure balance in its account, he said. “We want the foundation to go on forever,” Andrew Kaiser said. In an effort to do just that, the foundation is conducting Ryan's Run, a 5Krun/walk race, at 9 a.m. June 26 at Huber Woods in Middletown. There will be an adult run/walk as well as children's events. The race is in association with the Jersey Shore Running Club. “The foundation has three goals”, Andrew Kaiser said. They are to financially assist local families of critically ill children who otherwise may not be able to afford proper health care; to donate funds to hospitals and doctor groups that specialize in the cure and care of pediatric heart patients and to fund a children's park in Middletown, dedicated in Ryan's name. “Ryan's death was sudden and unexpected,” his father said. Ryan was born with a congenital heart disease, Lauren Kaiser said. Six hours after Ryan was born, he was rushed to Deborah Hospital in New Jersey. By the time Ryan was 2, he had undergone three open-heart surgeries, his father said. During those years, the family would lock up the house and spend weeks living in a hotel close to the hospital to be near their son. “Each time, we knew he could die,” Andrew Kaiser said. It was not until he was 6 that his heart gave out one day while he was playing at home. “We knew Ryan was not going to be an athlete, but we thought he would grow old,” Andrew Kaiser said. The couple has two other children, Jack, 4, and Jamie, 2. At first, the Kaisers both said they thought they would be the only parents at the hospital experiencing this trauma. However, each time they got to the pediatric ward of the hospital, they met with other parents going through the same torment. “There were some parents driving four hours back and forth to the hospital because they could not afford a hotel room,'' Andrew Kaiser said.” We want to be able to help these people. We want to help the people that might need money for prescriptions. We have to get the word out that we are here for them.” The doctor who operated on Ryan each time, Dr. Marshall Jacobs, has been in contact with the Kaisers to seek help for funding the Congenital Heart Surgeon's Society, a group made up of about 100 surgeons representing nearly all of the major pediatric heart surgery centers in North America and a few in South America. In a letter
to the Kaisers, Jacobs wrote about a study being done regarding the late-phase
events in patients after neonatal repair of an interrupted aortic arch.
This is a relatively uncommon lesion, he wrote. About 450 patients from
more than For the past year, Lauren Kaiser has been attending a support group for parents who have lost a child. The group meets at 9:30 a.m. the third Wednesday of the month at the Holy Cross Church on Rumson Road in Rumson. “Nothing takes the pain away, but it helps talking to other people,” she said. “Ryan was a brilliant child,” his father said. “He was polite, loved math, and we thought he would have a long life.” The Ryan's Run event would have been something he would have enjoyed, his mother said. When Ryan was 5 years old, he ran in the Middletown Township Education Foundation's Great Race, his mother said. “Ryan came in last, but he was so proud of his accomplishment,” she said. “He felt great about it, he was incredible.” For further information about the foundation or to donate, call (888) 664-9520 or e-mail info@RAKMF.org. Press Contact for the RAKMF: Andy Kaiser |
