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RateA walk for ‘Supergirl’ and other heroes
Hitting the road for organ donorship and the life of Avery Toole
By Susan Campriello
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
CATSKILL — Bonnie Worth is encouraging Catskill residents to “become a real superhero and donate a life” through a walk Saturday through Catskill to increase awareness of the importance of organ donorship.
Avery Toole, the daughter of Worth’s cousin and Palenville native Cheryl Toole and husband Mike, received a life-saving heart transplant this summer.
“We call her ‘Supergirl,” Worth said of the five-year-old. “She’s a champion.”
Saturday’s walk will begin at Catskill Elementary School, on Embough Road, at 10 a.m. Walkers will proceed down Embought Road and Broome Street, take a right onto Grandview Avenue. Walkers will then turn left onto West Main Street and follow it to Catskill Middle School. Police and emergency personnel will escort walkers through Catskill. Walk day registration opens at 9 a.m. and costs $10.
Proceeds from the walk will be donated to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital Boston in Toole’s name.
Avery Wrinn Toole, of Hopkinton, Mass., was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which impaired the ability of her left ventricle to grow as necessary to function properly.
Worth said Toole had undergone eight different procedures to promote the growth, but in March 2009, blood clots blocked Toole’s coronary arteries and it became apparent she would need a transplant. On Aug.6, after six weeks connected to a Ventricular Assist Device, or Berlin Heart, Toole received a donated heart.
The surgery was performed at Children’s Hospital Boston by a team including hospital Chief of Cardiac Surgery Dr. Pedro del Nido, hospital Cardiologist-in-Chief Dr. James Lock and surgeon Dr. Francis Flynn-Thompson, among others. More than 200 children have received heart transplants at the hospital since 1986.
Eight weeks later, Toole is on the road to recovery, has regained her appetite and has been able to visit a garden on the hospital’s grounds, Worth reported, adding that Toole never complains about her hospitalization.
“She’s really coming along,” Worth said.
Worth said although she has never met the donor’s relatives, she hopes that family will become a part of her own.
Worth said her cousin Cheryl Toole has never left her daughter’s side and that the entire family appreciates the support already shown by the Catskill community including the walk’s co-organizers, registered walkers and those who have donated money to the ICU.
Worth said organ donor cards will be available Saturday and walkers can also participate in walk-day giveaways.
To reach reporter Susan Campriello, call (518) 943-2100, ext. 3333, or e-mail scampriello@thedailymail.net.
Avery Toole, the daughter of Worth’s cousin and Palenville native Cheryl Toole and husband Mike, received a life-saving heart transplant this summer.
“We call her ‘Supergirl,” Worth said of the five-year-old. “She’s a champion.”
Saturday’s walk will begin at Catskill Elementary School, on Embough Road, at 10 a.m. Walkers will proceed down Embought Road and Broome Street, take a right onto Grandview Avenue. Walkers will then turn left onto West Main Street and follow it to Catskill Middle School. Police and emergency personnel will escort walkers through Catskill. Walk day registration opens at 9 a.m. and costs $10.
Proceeds from the walk will be donated to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital Boston in Toole’s name.
Avery Wrinn Toole, of Hopkinton, Mass., was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which impaired the ability of her left ventricle to grow as necessary to function properly.
Worth said Toole had undergone eight different procedures to promote the growth, but in March 2009, blood clots blocked Toole’s coronary arteries and it became apparent she would need a transplant. On Aug.6, after six weeks connected to a Ventricular Assist Device, or Berlin Heart, Toole received a donated heart.
The surgery was performed at Children’s Hospital Boston by a team including hospital Chief of Cardiac Surgery Dr. Pedro del Nido, hospital Cardiologist-in-Chief Dr. James Lock and surgeon Dr. Francis Flynn-Thompson, among others. More than 200 children have received heart transplants at the hospital since 1986.
Eight weeks later, Toole is on the road to recovery, has regained her appetite and has been able to visit a garden on the hospital’s grounds, Worth reported, adding that Toole never complains about her hospitalization.
“She’s really coming along,” Worth said.
Worth said although she has never met the donor’s relatives, she hopes that family will become a part of her own.
Worth said her cousin Cheryl Toole has never left her daughter’s side and that the entire family appreciates the support already shown by the Catskill community including the walk’s co-organizers, registered walkers and those who have donated money to the ICU.
Worth said organ donor cards will be available Saturday and walkers can also participate in walk-day giveaways.
To reach reporter Susan Campriello, call (518) 943-2100, ext. 3333, or e-mail scampriello@thedailymail.net.
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