By Kathy Brown.
Alyssa Lape, US Navy veteran and Higganum resident, is training to run in the New York City Marathon on November 1, 2020. She has been running for 20 years, and has run in numerous 5K’s and Half Marathons, as well as the Baltimore Marathon. For this race, she has been training since October 2019. Not just running, but also yoga, strength training, indoor cycling, and she recently added Pilates to her exercise regimen.
She and her husband, Lynn, moved to Higganum almost two years ago to be closer to her husband’s family (they live in Killingworth). For the past five years, she has run her own “custom sewing business” while being a full time caretaker to her three children. Prior to that, she worked in the government IT business.
Alyssa is part of the St. Jude NYC Marathon team, which is comprised of 100 people. Her team is called “Bella Knots.” She explained, “‘Bella’ comes from Italy, where I was once stationed in the military, and ‘knots’ comes from my time tying knots in the US Navy and tying knots today while sewing, embroidering, crocheting, and knitting.”
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was chosen by Alyssa because “I wanted to do something to give back to help families with children who have life threatening diseases.” Her fundraising goal is $5,000. All donations can be made directly to St. Jude through their official fundraising PAGE. For every $10 donated from Feb. 24-May 31, you get an entry into a raffle to be held on June 1 to win gift certificates for local gift cards (ex., brunch for two at Fresh Salt Restaurant at Saybrook Point Resort & Marina, or Madison Health Foods Store).
When Alyssa had her second child, he was in the NICU for ten days. When she had her third child, they went home after two days. Unfortunately, the doctors didn’t catch his complications until many doctors and specialists visits later. “He had so many surgeries over the next year, that I lost count of how many times he has been put to sleep. All of those countless visits and overnight stays were in the children’s hospitals at Duke University of North Carolina and Harvard University-Boston Children’s Hospital. I will never forget the fear of the unknown each and every time we stepped into those hospitals. Not just for my son, but for all of the other families there also. I’ll never forget the look on the staff’s faces when a child was lost or the screams from the parents. I cannot imagine their pain.” She is very grateful that her story turned out okay. “When my son was 20 months old, he was finally cleared from all of his health issues and has no complications today. To celebrate his victory, I wanted to do something to give back to help families with children who have life threatening diseases. This is why I am choosing to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.”
St. Jude shares treatments and discoveries to help save thousands more children. No child is denied treatment based on race, religion, or a family’s ability to pay. Not only do they provide treatment for the child, but they offer free housing for families who need to travel there for treatment.
