Melbourne, FL – February 12,2014 – The Preeclampsia Foundation is pleased to announce that Michelle Taylor and her family are the 2014 Atlanta Promise Walk for Preeclampsia™ Mission Family. As this year’s face of preeclampsia, the Taylor Family will lead the Promise Walk campaign by sharing their tragic childbirth story, and encouraging teams around the city to meet or exceed their fundraising goals.
“We have been involved with the Preeclampsia Foundation since 2010 which is when we did our first Promise Walk” said Michelle Taylor. “On April 19th, 2009, I was 23 weeks and 6 days pregnant with our little girl, Hailee, when I developed symptoms of Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. The ER doctors were “baffled” by my symptoms. Once I finally got to labor and delivery, they diagnosed me and said that I had to deliver immediately. Hailee was born on April 20th, 2009 at 9:21 a.m. and weighed 1 lb 3 oz. She was immediately taken to the NICU. I was very sick. My blood pressure was very high, I had fluid in my left lung, and my blood platelets where extremely low. I stayed in the hospital until April 27th, 2009. Around 3 a.m. on the morning of April 29th, 2009, we received a call from the hospital saying they thought it would be best if we came to the hospital right away. Hailee lost her battle that morning around 4 a.m. It was devastating.”
Seeking more information about her traumatic pregnancy experience, Taylor turned to the Preeclampsia Foundation website as a source of information and to receive support. 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. Through the Foundation’s educational programs, Michelle and her family were able to learn about preeclampsia, and network with a community of preeclampsia survivors.
“Once I got on to the Preeclampsia Foundation’s website I learned a great deal and found a large community of families who had been through similar experiences. That is also where we found out about the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia. I immediately found a walk in Atlanta and decided that I would walk every year if I could from then on.“ She hopes she can use her family’s experience to help others dealing with preeclampsia. Taylor has also started a website to share her story, https://forhailee.shutterfly.com/
“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. Taylor and her family will kick off the festivities and share their inspiring story at the 2014 Promise Walk for Preeclampsia, on May 17, 2014, at Lenora Park in Snellville, GA. To register, visit www.promisewalk.org/atlantaGA. In-kind Sponsors include Happy Family™ Organic Superfoods and Sweet Life
