Each mile of the Columbus Marathon is dedicated to a patient of Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Cayden Jolliff, 7, of Morral, and Atreyu Roberts, 10, of Green Camp, were selected as Marathon Mile Champs and will be cheering on the runners at the race.
The boys were chosen to represent a mile of the marathon after being patients at the hospital.
Jolliff spent two years in the children’s hospital after being born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a condition that causes the diaphragm to not develop properly.
Roberts was 6 years old when he was diagnosed with medulloblastoma. A young boy underwent a 10-hour brain surgery to remove a small orange-sized tumor after it was discovered in the emergency room.
The boys were chosen to be honored on race day in order to raise money for the hospital. The boys will decorate a booth for their mile.
Jolliff, a big fan of Santa Claus, will start the race along with runners as he is the mile champion for the first mile. Roberts’ booth will be decorated in the theme of Pokémon and will be on display just over halfway through the race.
When Atreyu’s mother first received the email, she laughed because she didn’t think it was real.
He was going to have his pictures done. We did kind of like a biography from start to finish, when he was diagnosed with his brain tumor all the way to that day, and now we’re picking out decorations, so it’s exciting.”
It is a great honor for him to be selected out of all the other children who are seen through Children’s.
She said she owes her son’s neurosurgeon and eye doctor a lot. She is based in Dublin.
Without the eye doctor and the surgeon, Hendrix wouldn’t have a child.
After learning to walk, talk and eat again after his brain surgery, Hendrix is grateful to have her video-game enthusiast back home. The Green Camp 10-year-old has been cancer-free for every six months they have had their magnetic resonance images done.
Local community providing support
For Jolliff, the marathon’s mile-one Santa-loving champion, theMarion and Morrow County communities are going above and beyond to raise money.
It is both a dream-ful filled and an honor to be able to give back to the place that gave her son his life, according to his mother.
We wanted to give back to the children. There is no place I would rather have him at than Children’s.
It was two and a half years of our lives, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. He only had a small chance of survival, so he is where he is. His life was saved many times by them.
The mother of a teacher at Mount Gilead Park Avenue Elementary said in both Morrow andMarion counties that her community is surrounding the family in financial support for the event.
The family created a t-shirt with the theme of Christmas in mind. Jolliff’s page for Nationwide Children’s will be supported by the proceeds of the shirt.
Jolliff teaches a donation-based workout class at S&S Cardio Drumming & Fitness. The high school and middle school cross country teams raised money by selling pizzas.
Jolliff was in fourth place for raising the most money among the 24 patients.
The people are coming together.
If Cayden was a champion, many of her friends from Park Avenue promised to run in the race. They kept their word.
Holly will run a half marathon in October. She didn’t have to run the full marathon because she was relieved Cayden would be stationed at mile one.
I know how much the Nationwide Children’s Hospital means to their family, and it’s been fun to be a part of their team.
When Cayden was in the hospital his first few years of life, it was important to me that I could give back to the hospital.
To support Atreyu Roberts and Cayden Jolliff’s efforts to raise money for Nationwide Children’s Hospital, please visit the Children’s Champion website.
The story was written by Sophia Veneziano.