It’s all about perseverance. For patients. For team members. For Will Bradley.
In 84 hours, Will Bradley ran 100.24 miles through swollen feet, blisters, and heat and humidity at the Icarus Florida Ultrafest. And, he did it for the kids.
After taking about a year off after injury, he was encouraged to lace his sneakers back up in November 2018 for the six-day ultrarun that attracted athletes from around the world. As a result of his fundraising on behalf of the event, Will donated $1,500 for Baystate Children’s Hospital through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Support that helps now
A resident of Southbridge, MA, Will wanted to find a charity to support through his event participation and he came across Baystate Children’s Hospital while researching fundraising opportunities through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. He was struck by the fact that the needs of the hospital included items and programming that would benefit patients now.
“They need help ‘in the now’ and that really struck me,” shared Will “We live in the present so let’s focus on the present moment now instead of always thinking so far ahead.” Pushing forward Thinking about the patients, medical professionals, and team members at Baystate Children’s Hospital helped keep him going through some of his most difficult moments, even keeping a card sent to him from Chair of Pediatrics for Baystate Children’s Hospital Charlotte Boney, MD.
“When I was struggling, I would read that note and it said, ‘thank you so much for helping us.’ And I would think ‘This is why I’m here’,” shared Will. “It kind of felt like that Rocky moment when you’re sitting down, you’re just knocked out. But, you have to get back up and go fight again. Next round, here we go. That’s what helped keep me going.”
According to Will, it’s not over yet. He has plans to continue running and pushing himself to do better with each race.
“If we set ourselves aside and helped the people in around us, I think we can do a lot better for each other,” said Will.
Learn more about how you can support Baystate Children’s Hospital.