I am SUPER EXCITED to share that I will be running the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon for Team HSS! 

I am running for Team HSS… BECAUSE MOVEMENT IS A GIFT and the Hospital for Special Surgery has kept me moving throughout my running career and even before I put on my first pair of running sneakers.

Just 3 years ago TODAY I had ankle surgery at HSS! Thanks to my amazing doctor, Dr. Constantine Demetracopoulos, and the entire staff at HSS I get to toe the line in three short weeks and can continue to do what I love especially for years to come. I have raised my fundraising goal to $3,000 in honor of it being 3 years since my surgery! I hope that you will consider helping me reach my goal.

My HSS journey began back in 5th grade. The school nurse was doing her yearly scoliosis checks on all of the students and noticed a slight curve in my back. She recommended to my Mom that I go and get it checked out. My mom didn't know where to go so she asked around in the school community for suggestions and one family recommended Dr. Doyle at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. We made an appointment to go to the city and the rest is history. Dr. Doyle helped me so very much whether it was with my scoliosis and back pain throughout middle school or through my very first femur stress fracture at the beginning of my senior year of high school. Little did I know the impact that this place would continue to have on my life and that of many of those whom I love! 

Fast forward through many more stress reactions and stress fractures (another femur, one talus, a fibula, the list goes on HAHA).HSS helped guide me back to health during each one of those injuries. After so many injuries, I tried EVERYTHING to try to break that constant cycle of being hurt. I FINALLY thought I had it figured out going into my senior cross country season at Boston College. Not even a month into the season I found out that I probably had my worst injury yet, one that would require surgery. I went to the school's foot surgeon at the local hospital with which they had a partnership. When I left that appointment, I was completely devastated because I was told that I had only three options 1) Have surgery only on the injured foot which would mean I would still be caught in a constant injury cycle 2) Have corrective surgery on both of my feet and if I was able to start running again it would never feel the same or 3) Give up running for good. I called my mom and hysterically cried. The thought of ever having to give up running scared me. She calmed me down and told me that she and my dad wanted a second opinion. I immediately agreed, bought a train ticket home to NYC, and went to the only place I trusted - HSS.  Sure enough Dr. D knew how important it was for me to keep running. He saw me as more than just another surgery. He saw me as a runner. He proposed a much more conservative surgery that would allow me to keep running without changing how it would feel once I got back out there. He knew I wanted to get back to doing what I loved as soon as possible so he moved around his schedule, performed the surgery on a holiday for me, and even used an innovative technique to help promote faster healing. Surgery was only supposed to take 2 hours but I was in the operating room for way longer (Ask my mom- she was so worried. My dad on the other hand was off drinking beer at a local Irish pub). When we asked why it took so long when I woke up, Dr. D shared that he found extra damage in my ankle area and wanted to ensure that I came out feeling my best so he took the extra time to help fix it all. 

If I didn't get that second opinion from HSS, I would definitely not be fundraising so that I could run a marathon! I might not have even been running anymore.

To be completely honest though, the last three years have been anything but easy to get back to running! I thought that running a marathon wouldn't be something that I could check off my bucket list until years down the line especially because once I finished collegiate running in May 2021, I have barely run over the last year. That was until I woke up one morning in March to an email from the Hospital for Special Surgery in my inbox about entering their bib lottery to run for Team HSS in the NYC Marathon. I took it as a sign, emailed back that I was interested, got an email that I was chosen, and now here we are just 3 weeks away from running 26.2!! 

So I hope that you all would consider helping me in raising money for the HSS Fund. Your donations will help to power life-changing orthopedic and rheumatologic care and help to fund leading research in these fields. Choosing to donate will help HSS to find better treatments for musculoskeletal conditions, which affect more than one out of every two adults in the US and nearly 75% of those age 65 and over. Help restore mobility and hope to people who need HSS most!   

Over the last few months, I have realized just how many people HSS has had an impact on. Most recently I was speaking with someone and I shared how I was running the marathon on Team HSS. She then shared how HSS found her cancer when she was simply there for an MRI after getting injured. This to me is proof that the hospital and the doctors there truly care about each one of their patients as individual people and not just their injuries. They want to help you become a better version of yourself! 

HSS has not only helped me but it has helped so many of my family members. About 10 years ago, my grandmother needed another hip replacement because the one that she had gotten many years’ prior had started to deteriorate and she was in immense pain. My mom brought her to so many surgeons and many of them shied away because of the complexity of the surgery given her age and that she was on blood thinners. The only doctor that said yes to the surgery was a doctor from HSS and thanks to him my grandmother was able to live the last few years of her life without such immense pain from her hip! Coming from a family of athletes, injuries are inevitable.Whether its Dr. Doyle, Dr. D, or Dr. Goolsby- you have all been extremely influential in our lives and our athletic careers. My siblings and I are forever grateful that you have kept us all doing what we love, even when there have been times that it seemed impossible. On a bit of a funny note- I am pretty sure my mom must have all of their offices on speed dial at this point with how frequently she has to call them. 

I could go on forever with all of the impactful stories I have heard about the Hospital for Special Surgery but I have to give an extra special shout out to Dr. Demetracopoulos. There will never be enough ways for me to say THANK YOU to you for all you have done to help me MOVE BETTER! 

To each of you that have read this far- Thank you so much for reading more about my HSS journey! 

I hope that after reading the impact that HSS has had on my life (and on countless others) you will consider donating to ensure HSS can continue to provide world-class musculoskeletal care and help patients get back to what they need and love to do better than any other place in the world! Just like they have done for me. 

OH and if you ever need anything- whether it be a hip replacement, a second opinion on your knee pain, or even just a sprained ankle - CHOOSE HSS. It is simply the BEST!! As my singlet says, "Choose Better, Move Better." If you don't believe me just look at the countless awards that the hospital has won- "#1 in the nation for Orthopedics 13 years in a row"; "Highest ranked in the Northeast for Rheumatology"; and "Highest ranked in NY, NJ, CT for Pediatric Orthopedics." 

HSS is proud to be an official charity partner for the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon taking place on Sunday, November 6. There is an incredible group of runners on Team HSS this year, training and fundraising for the Hospital for Special Surgery. If you have any questions about making a gift or about Team HSS, please contact Samantha Havens at (212)774-2929 or havenss@hss.edu.