Fort Dodge is one of seven locations throughout the state hosting the Iowa SIDS Foundation Walk for the Future this Saturday. For Kenzie and Kody Pirie of Fort Dodge its very personal after losing a child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and having so many unanswered questions.
“How do we not have answers?” she says. “I read the autopsy report and everything came back as unremarkable. In this day and age how can you tell me that a baby just dies for no reason?” In the four years since they lost their daughter, Kenzie has become a board member for the Iowa SIDS Foundation and a peer contact.
She says the walk remembers those who have been lost and raises money to fund research, and to spread education and awareness.
“This pays for the pamphlets, resources, and bereavement groups. There’s grandparent bereavement groups, there are things for siblings, and the Iowa SIDS Foundation helps with all of that,” she says. She says it is important to talk with others who have had the same experience.
“The best advice that I ever got was embrace people,” Pirie says. “Embrace that help and embrace people. Even though I did not want to, that was seriously what helped me the most.” The walk begins Saturday at Oleson Park in Fort Dodge with registration at 10:30 a.m. and the walk beginning at 11:30. There will also be a raffle, silent auction, kids activities and a memorial event to remember those lost and to bring people together. For more information about how you can help, go to the Iowa SIDS Foundation Facebook Page.
The other walks are in Carroll, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Le Mars, Urbandale, and Washington.
(By Brook Bickford, KVFD, Fort Dodge)