Stepping Strong Fund to Award $100k for Trauma Recovery Research
Please take note of the amazing story of my remarkable cousin Gillian, who at the age of 18, was a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing. I was riding the train in NYC when my father called me in tears to tell me that Gillian had been injured and could lose her leg. Thanks to the miraculous and speedy work of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital trauma unit, her life and limbs were saved. In gratitude for their miraculous work, she and her family have established a fund to enhance the work of the unit to develop life altering possibilities to victims of trauma. Please read the story below to see what you can do. And please vote! — Daniel Stedman, Co-Founder, Northside Media Group
In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, dozens of spectators and marathon runners were rushed to area hospitals, many with life-threatening injuries. Just as the trial of the alleged Boston bomber has continued in the months following the incident, so has the physical and emotional recovery of many of the bombing victims.
One such victim is Gillian Reny, who was 18 at the time of the bombing. She was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where doctors and nurses managed to save her life, as well as her legs, which had been badly injured. In February of this year, Gillian’s family founded the Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Fund at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which will fund trauma recovery research. The fund hopes to help patients with “traumatic, athletic, and disease-related limb injuries regain their strength and step strong once again.”
This year, the Stepping Strong Fund will select a proposed research project to receive a Stepping Strong Innovator Award of $100,000 to fund research in some aspect of trauma recovery or limb reconstruction. The three finalists for the Innovator Award focus on surgery, tissue restoration, and stem-cells for muscle regeneration. Finalists are open to a public vote, and the award will be given on November 20, 2014, for Research Day at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.