Point Pleasant Mom's 5K 'Burpees' Shine Light On Girl's Defect

POINT PLEASANT – Gena Laielli, a 37-year-old mother, is doing all she can for her 6-year-old daughter, even if it means completing 5,332 burpees in 12 consecutive hours.

Laielli, a Point Pleasant native, went for the world record in January, in fact, and she did it for her 6-year-old daughter because she wanted to bring attention to what she was born with.

Laielli did 5,332 burpees between 7:40 a.m. and 7:40 p.m. on Jan. 11. Several judges were watching to make sure it will be recorded as a world record.

"It sounds crazy," she told Patch. "I still can't imagine that I did it."

Emma was born with omphalocele, a rare birth defect. She wasn't born with a belly button or an abdominal wall, her mother said.

Laielli did the a burpee-a-thon at the gym to raise money for omphalocele research and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She did it at her gym in Somers Point, Gen Fitness.

"I always try to do something special to raise awareness," she said

Laielli also wants to make sure that it's an official world record because that's another way of spreading awareness of the defect, and raising money for it. She also drew the attention of Good Morning America, which did a segment on her.

"It's definitely raised awareness," she said. "I have people from all over messaging me. A lot of people have reached to tell me about what they're going through."

Laielli's daughter spent a lot of time in the hospital, particularly in the NICU, where she was under care for nine-and-a-half months. She's had six surgeries.

Now Emma is a kindergarten student, and she's expected to live a normal life. She even does burpees with her mother.

Laielli is also waiting to hear from the Guinness Book of World Records to see if her burpee-feat officially beat the old record of 4,785.

Laielli said she's ready to keep spreading awareness the same way, she's ready to do it all over again – especially if somebody tries to beat the record.

"I'll do it if somebody tries to beat me," she said. "I'm a very competitive person."