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Community Corner

New Jersey Teenagers Honor Mom by Leading Awareness

 

The Preeclampsia Foundation is pleased to announce that Patrick Dignan and his 16-year-old twin sons Cameron and Justin (of Glen Ridge) are the 2014 Cranford area, NJ Promise Walk for Preeclampsia™ Mission Family. As this year’s face of preeclampsia, Cameron and Justin, will help lead the Promise Walk campaign by sharing their tragic birth story, and encouraging teams around the state to meet or exceed their fundraising goals.

“My wife and the mother of my twin sons died from the effects of severe preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome just weeks after giving birth to the boys in 1997,” explained father Patrick Dignan. “They never got the benefit of knowing her, of growing up with a mom.”

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The Preeclampsia Foundation is the only national nonprofit patient advocacy organization for the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Through their national fundraising event The Promise Walk for Preeclampsia, the Preeclampsia Foundation works to achieve its mission to provide patient support and education, raise public awareness, catalyze research and improve health care practices.

Seeking more information about his wife’s death, Dignan turned to the Preeclampsia Foundation as a source of support and information. Since then, he has volunteered in many capacities to further education on the life-threatening condition of pregnancy.

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Justin and Cameron started following their father’s volunteering footsteps in 2012 through the Cranford area, New Jersey Promise Walk for Preeclampsia.

“We do this in recognition that our mother’s life legacy is us,” Justin and Cameron explained. The Dignan boys hope to use their family's experience to help others dealing with preeclampsia.

“The compassion these boys have for families that have been affected by preeclampsia is wonderful to see,” said Cranford area Walk Coordinator Stephanie Steiner (of Springfield), who is assisted at the walk by her own teenaged daughter, Marissa. “I love seeing how the next generation is really taking this cause to heart to save the lives of moms and babies.”

“This family is the face of the mission for the Promise Walk and represent the reason that our Foundation continues working to help save the lives of mothers and their babies,” explained Preeclampsia Foundation Executive Director Eleni Tsigas.

Patrick, Cameron & Justin Dignan will help kick off the festivities and share their inspiring story at the 2014 Promise Walk for Preeclampsia, on Sunday, May 18, 2014 at Oak Ridge Park, Clark, NJ which is being sponsored locally by New Jersey Perinatal Associates and TD Securities.

To register, visit www.promisewalk.org/cranford.

About Preeclampsia:  Preeclampsia is a disorder that occurs during pregnancy and the immediate postpartum period, and affects both the mother and the fetus. It is a rapidly progressive condition characterized by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine; other symptoms may include swelling in the hands and face, headaches, and visual disturbances. Preeclampsia affects the mother's kidneys, liver and other vital organs and, if undetected or untreated, can lead to seizures (eclampsia), cerebral hemorrhage, failure in vital organs and death. The cause of preeclampsia is still not fully understood, and the only cure for the condition begins with delivery. Approximately five to eight percent of pregnancies are affected by preeclampsia, which, in the United States, translates to approximately 300,000 pregnancies. It is a leading cause of preterm birth, and is responsible for approximately 76,000 maternal deaths and half a million infant deaths worldwide annually. There are several types of preeclampsia, including HELLP syndrome, a particularly dangerous variant.

 


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