At six months old, Tessa Ames was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. The seizures were extremely hard to control, and suddenly Tessa’s parents, Heath and Jeff Ames, found themselves in and out of a New Zealand hospital’s emergency department on a very regular basis. When Tessa was 4 years old, the Ameses moved to Saratoga Springs. Tessa’s seizures were still difficult to control and the family continued to need emergency care. “We found the longer the seizure went on, the more potential for brain damage,” Ames said.
Ames often worried about the level of care her daughter was receiving at the local hospital. Frequently, her daughter was being airlifted to Albany Medical Center in Albany. “The ER was critical because you have to stop the seizures,” she said. “We have taken her to the best neurologists – we had control over that – but when you are in an emergency situation you don’t have control.” As a Saratoga Springs business owner, Ames felt she had a tool to help give back to the community, and in 2008 put together the first Cantina Kids Fun Run, a run designed from start to finish with kids in mind. Her plan was to hold a run specifically for kids and to raise money for children’s emergency services at Saratoga Hospital. “Hopefully kids don’t have to go to the ER, but you know what, everybody goes there at some point whether its stitches, a broken wrist, a sports injury or dehydration,” said Ames. “When it’s your child, it’s just absolutely terrifying, that’s why we decided to focus on the ER.” That first year, the Cantina Kids Fun Run raised $10,000.
“It has grown every year,” Ames said. “This year the goal is $38,000.”
The first three years the run was held, the money raised went towards building Saratoga Hospital’s new emergency department. Since then, the funds have gone specifically to pediatric emergency care at the hospital. Rachel Wheatley, special events manager at Saratoga Hospital, said the fun run has made an enormous difference in the quality of care for pediatric services at Saratoga Hospital. “We don’t have a pediatric unit, but we have pediatric patients that come through our door, and we want to make sure that we are prepared for any case that does come through that door,” Wheatley said. “This event enables us to purchase tools and send our nurses to training in pediatric emergency care so that we can be as prepared as can possibly be.” Wheatley said since the Cantina Run the hospital has been able to get its nurses on a track to be certified in pediatric emergency care, and last year the hospital was able to purchase a pediatric simulation mannequin. “It allows our nurses to be able to practice scenarios that they wouldn’t normally be able to practice, so when that worst case scenario does happen they have already done it X number of times,” Wheatley said. “It helps us be able to go above what we would purchase.” The money raised from this year’s run will be used for ongoing training and education for the pediatric emergency staff. The Cantina Kids Fun Run is for kids ages 3 to 12. Each child will choose a quarter-mile or one-mile course through downtown Saratoga Springs. All kids will receive a medal, T-shirt and water bottle, and the top three boys and top three girls on each course will receive trophies. Before and after the run, families can enjoy face painting, a bouncy bounce, healthy snacks and live music from 101.3 The Jockey. Wheatley said the race is like no other she has seen.
“There are children who train for this,” she said. “Seeing the determination on their face, they are laughing, crying, sweating. When they cross the finish line, you see their smile – they’ve worked so hard.” Ames said sometimes she is asked, given her daughter’s condition, why she didn’t put together a run to support epilepsy rather than funding the local hospital. “It’s just that it’s whatever part of the process affects you most, and for us it was that,” she said. “If we didn’t have this level of care in Saratoga, we couldn’t live here.” Ames says she feels very fortunate to have Saratoga Hospital at the level it is today.
“It’s the kind of thing you don’t appreciate until you have no choice but to use it,” Ames said. “We are very grateful for that and want to be a part of ensuring that it keeps improving.” The sixth annual Cantina Fun Run will take place on Sunday, June 2. Registration starts at 8 a.m. in the Saratogian parking lot at 20 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs. The run begins at 9 a.m. Parents are welcome to run with their children and strollers are welcome. For information, call 583-8340 or visit www.saratogahospitalfoundation.org.