Community Marching for Babies Saturday

In an average week in South Carolina, 169 babies are born too soon. Premature babies often spend their first weeks in the NICU fighting for life, and often have life long health and developmental consequences.

The March of Dimes is the champion for all babies, those born healthy and those who need help to survive and thrive. This year marks the 75^th Anniversary of the March of Dimes.

Early research led to the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines that all babies still receive. Other breakthroughs include new treatments for premature infants and children with birth defects.

About four million babies are born each year in the United States, and all have benefitted from March of Dimes lifesaving research and education.

Hundreds of people will be marching in support of the March for Dimes Saturday.

The Pickens County March for Babies will be held Saturday, April 27 in Old Market Square. The opening program begins at 8:30am, and the walk kicks off at 9am.

This year, the Pickens County March for Babies goal is $118,000.

Families, corporate teams and individual walkers will be taking part. Following the walk, participants will enjoy food and family-fun activities. Individuals and teams who raised the most money for the March of Dimes will be recognized.

Casey Morgan and her family know firsthand the kind of support the March of Dimes provides.

Morgan's son TJ was born about five weeks early. He spent the next 18 days in the NICU.

“When he was born, he wasn't breathing on his own,” Morgan told Easley Patch in an earlier interview.

TJ was born with very low muscle tone.

“He couldn't suck a bottle, he didn't move very much,” Morgan said. “He was one of those cases where you don't really know what happened.”

Until March of Dimes arrived, “We were lost,” she said.

“Great papers telling you what the different equipment is, what it's for,” she said. “Because you find yourself thrust into this place and it's bells and whistles, and it's kind of noisy and it's very intimidating.”

They offered gifts for siblings to help them deal with the situation.

“They gave TJ a March of Dimes Beanie Baby, which he still has and loves,” Morgan said. “They gave him a book that I could read to him at his bedside, which I still read to him today. And that was nice, just to have somebody come up there and give you a hug. It's a scary place to be, especially when you don't think it will ever happen to you. They were really great.”

The TJ's Trotters team will be walking in the March for Babies Saturday, as they have since 2010.

For more information visit marchofdimes.com/southcarolina or facebook.com/scmarchofdimes