Guest Post: Beat NB runner Peter Fitzgerald

Donate to Peter’s Running Page

Working at Children’s hospital overnights, I sometimes forget where I am.

Behind a curtain of poly it is just like any other construction site. But when I go on break, and walk out from behind the poly, I see the children.

The children who have hurt themselves playing sports, riding bikes, playing man hunt. They look at me and smile, I am a pleasant distraction for them at a strange hour of the morning, in a place they don’t want to be. So I wave, I give them the old wink and a gun, I smile at them and they smile and wave.

Then there are the children who have never been able to ride a bike,or play in the park, the ones who don’t even see me. The ones who have never known what it is like to win a game or be part of a team, to run a race, or play hide and seek, and I am grateful for the health of my children, something I often take for granted.

But other times it is the sounds I hear through the poly, when people are unaware I am there. The low talk of a father trying to sooth a child, the discussion of treatment options for a couples daughter, and a mother wailing on a phone in the corner to her mother trying to figure out why cancer has taken residence in her 4 year old son, and how anyone is going to get through this, let alone a small 4 year old.

It hits me hard, I start to cry a little and think of my own children, what would I do, how could I help anyone who may be going through this?  I am a pipefitter, not a doctor, or a scientist, just a blue collar pipefitter.

Luckily I have found a way to make a difference, and to feel as though I am doing something more than nothing.

I am running, even though I am the furthest thing from a runner, I have found strength in a cause, and a group of like minded runners.

I am running the Falmouth Road Race this year in hope to raise money to find a cure for Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer. In hope that some day I will never have to hear a mother cry behind a curtain of poly, or see a child to sick to play. If you feel the same way but are not a runner, let me run for you. Donate to my page and know that all of the money goes to find a cure for this disease. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a great day and hug your children as much as you can.

Donate to Peter’s Page

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