Running for Rosie

Rosie Portelli cheered her mom, Peggy, on at the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

The 300 runners who will participate in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 11 as members of the Children’s Memorial Marathon Team are united by a common goal: to raise funds to support the hospital’s efforts to provide the best possible care for sick children. For Peggy Portelli, the event also provides a way to give back for the care her daughter Janet, better known as “Rosie,” has received at the hospital.

Rosie, 8, is being treated by a multi-disciplinary team of Children’s Memorial specialists for a number of issues related to HDR syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by parathyroid and kidney disease as well as deafness. She has an autoimmune condition that has resulted in enteritis, an inflammatory disease of the small intestine, and arthritis. Rosie has one functioning kidney and has developed Type 1 diabetes. Born deaf, she has had cochlear implantation surgery to allow her to hear.

Despite her multiple challenges, Peggy says Rosie is a happy, active child who loves her school in northwest Indiana, swimming, going to the park with friends and Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers.

Thanks to her ability to hear, this special little girl also saved her mom’s life. When Peggy recently experienced a hypoglycemic reaction at home and passed out, Rosie was able to call 911 and communicate with the emergency operator, saying, "My mommy is sick."

"Without the benefits Rosie has gained thanks to the cochlear implant she received at Children's Memorial, I don’t know if I would be here today," says Peggy.

Peggy will be participating as a marathon team member for the third consecutive year. Last year she raised more than $1,000 from friends and family, and is hoping to raise even more this year in donations. Team members raised a total of $450,000 in 2008 to support the hospital.

Peggy’s participation in the marathon team was sparked by a poster for the team she saw during a hospital visit with Rosie two years ago.

“I had done some shorter runs, but I had never run a marathon,” she says. “But I thought to myself, ‘You know, I’m going to run for Children’s and run for Rosie.’ When I got home I told my husband, Jim, and immediately signed up.”

Peggy says she enjoys the camaraderie of the other members of the Children’s Memorial team on race day and the family atmosphere in the team’s special tent in the “Charity Village,” which is open to runners’ family members and friends.

“It’s so wonderful to see so many people who run for Children’s at the marathon each year,” she says. “During the race you’ll feel a tap on your shoulder and look over to see another team member cheering you on. In fact, during my first marathon, some of Rosie’s nurses were there and gave me hugs.”

Peggy says she thinks of Rosie, the other children treated at Children’s Memorial and the doctors, nurses and other professionals who care for them as she runs.

“To be honest, running a marathon for three to four hours is grueling,” she says. “But when you’re running for such a good cause it makes it easier to say, ‘I can do this.’ It makes it all worthwhile.”