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Idaho Family Enthusiastically Fights Battle against FSGS
If Franklin D. Roosevelt was correct when he stated “Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort,” then the Garner family of Rexburg, Idaho, must be positively euphoric. On May 14th, 2011, the family successfully hosted the first NephCure Walk in Idaho Falls at Community Park to raise funds to benefit The NephCure Foundation.
The Garner’s have had personal encounters with the kidney disease, starting in 2000, when the father of the family, Roger, and his son, Jason, were both diagnosed with FSGS within a year of each other. After battling the disease together for almost a decade, they both received successful transplants, and seized their new chance at life as an opportunity to help others in their position.
Their walk was successful at raising funds and awareness, bringing in all members of their small community, including six new patient families. Together, the 74 participants of the walk raised a total of $4,800 to help fund research for the disease.
"We were asking for help from our community to spread the word and generate enthusiasm about our mission,” said Deanna Garner, the family’s matriarch.
In addition to the effort the family put forth for the walk, Ben Mayer ran the 2010 ING New York City Marathon and raised over $2,000 for NephCure the family’s honor. This year, Jane Kelly, the actual donor of Jason Garner’s kidney, is training for a full marathon in Utah just seven months after the surgery. She hopes to raise $3,000 for The NephCure Foundation and use the marathon as a chance to bring awareness and outreach about the rare disease.
Watch a televised news story of Ben Mayer's run for the Garners.
The Garner family took every chance they had in order to bring awareness to the importance of working together as a community to achieve something great, and their efforts were not in vain. Because of their ability to overcome adversity and use it as an opportunity to help sufferers of the disease, the Garner family and their supporters are now able to say they have given others the opportunity to live a better and healthier life- now that’s a great accomplishment.