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6 I The Lovell Chronicle I July 12, 2012
Following unexplained death of 4-year-old, family plans July 14 fundraiser in her name
BY
TESSA SCHWEIGERT
Powell Tribune
On Thanksgiving Day
2010, 4-year-old Kerrigan
Richardson did not wake
up.
"Our lives were forever
changed," wrote her par-
ents, Brandon and Angela
(Foulger) Richardson. "To
this day, the cause of her
death is still unknown."
Sudden Unexplained
Death in Childhood (SUDC)
is the sudden and unexpect-
ed death of a child over 12
months. It's a diagnosis of
exclusion, given when all
known causes of death have
been ruled out, Angela ex-
plained. SUDC can be nei-
ther predicted nor prevent-
ed.
"Perfectly healthy chil-
dren go to sleep and just
Kerrigan Richardson
don't wake up," she said.
To increase awareness
and raise money for The
Sudden Unexplained Death
in Childhood Program, the
Richardsons have been or-
ganizing Kerrigan's Run, to
be held this Saturday.
"In memory of Kerrigan,
we have created this event.
Our hope is that one day a
'reason' will be found," the
Richardsons wrote on the
event's website, www.kerri-
gansrun.com.
Kerrigan's Run takes
place Saturday, July 14, at
Homesteader Park and in-
cludes a 5K run for adults
and children over 10 and a
2K family fitness walk for
adults and children over
10. In preparation for the
event, the Richardsons
have been gathering help
from sponsorships, volun-
teers and donations.
'LITTLE BALL OF FIRE'
The event will honor
Kerrigan's life -- the full
four years she lived as an
adventurous, happy and
beautiful little girl.
"She loved life ... she
loved everything about it,"
Angela said.
Angela describes her
daughter as vibrant -- "a
little ball of fire wrapped in
a blonde-haired, blue-eyed
picture of childhood inno-
cence."
Kerrigan enjoyed four-
wheeling with her dad, An-
gela said, calling her "Dad-
dy's wing man."
"She was also Mammy's
little princess, who loved to
help in the kitchen, have
girls' movie night, put on
makeup and play dress-up.
She adored being the cen-
ter of attention and always
knew how to make the spot-
light shine directly on her,"
she said.
Kerrigan enjoyed sing-
ing, dancing and playing
the piano. She sang along
with Disney movies and
was a big fan of "Glee" on
television.
"Books had long held a
BRANDON YULE
Brandon and Angela Richardson pose with son Jasper and a portrait of daughter
Kerrigan. A fundraiser in Kerrigan's name takes place Saturday in Powell.
deep fascination with her,
and the highlight of Kerri-
gan's month would be the
book sale at the library,"
Angela added. "Her ab-
solute favorites were the
Berenstain Bears series,
many of which she would
memorize and read along
with Daddy before bedtime,
though she would happily
crawl into your lap with any
book as long as you prom-
ised to read it to her."
The 4-year-old was ex-
cited to learn and attended
two local preschools. She
was eager to begin kinder-
garten.
Kerrigan also eager-
ly anticipated meeting her
baby brother.
Just two weeks after
Kerrigan's death, Angela
gave birth to a baby boy,
Jasper.
"She was so excited to
be a big sister," Angela said.
This summer's Run for
a Reason takes place just a
couple weeks before what
would have been Kerrigan's
sixth birthday -- July 25.
The family hopes the
run will become an annu-
al event in the Big Horn
Basin.
"We want to let people
know it's out there and hap-
pening to real families," An-
gela said.
SUDC
Before Kerrigan's
death, Brandon and Angela
had never heard of SUDC.
She said they don't know
of any other Sudden Unex-
plained Death in Childhood
cases in the Rocky Moun-
tain Region.
It occurs in about 1
death per 100,000 chil-
dren. By comparison, Sud-
den Infant Death Syndrome
(SIDS) is about 50 times
more common.
The SUDC Program
was founded in 2001 as
part of the CJ Foundation
for SIDS. The program pro-
vides information, support
services and advocacy, and
it promotes research, An-
gela said. Laura Crandall
and Chelsea Hilbert, both
of whom lost children to
SUDC, co-founded the orga-
nization.
The Run for a Reason
was founded in 2003 by
Jennifer and Mitchell Best
in Minneapolis, Minn., in
honor of their son, Max.
"By hosting Kerrigan's
Run for a Reason, we hope
to spread the word about
SUDC. It is our hope that
no family should suffer the
loss that we have experi-
enced. It is also our hope
that we can preserve Ker-
rigan's memory, honor her
life and keep her special
spirit alive in the hearts of
all who knew her," Angela
wrote.
Proceeds from Ker-
rigan's Run for a Reason
will benefit The SUDC Pro-
gram, a program of the CJ
Foundation, by funding re-
search, increasing aware-
ness and strengthening
family support programs
across the country.
THE RUN SATURDAY
The event begins with
registration at 7:30 a.m.
Saturday, July 14, at Home-
steader Park in Powell. The
5K Run starts at 8:30 a.m.,
followed by the 2K Family
Fitness Walk at 9 a.m.
In addition to getting
some good exercise, kids
also can take part in carni-
val games and win prizes.
A silent auction and
raffle will run throughout
the morning, closing at
noon. Raffle tickets can be
urchased for $5 for one or
20 for five.
Items in the silent auc-
tion/raffle include: a two-
night hotel stay in Jackson
Hole, a trip to Thermopo-
lis for a family of four (ho-
tel stay,tickets to the
Wyoming Dinosaur Cen-
ter, freeswimming the
Teepee Pools), an over-
night stay in West Yellow-
stone with tickets to the
Grizzly and Wolf Discover
Center, a bronze sculpture
by Mark Hopkins and gift
certificates from local busi-
nesses, as well as various
homemade crafts donated
by local crafters.
A Pepsi trailer also will
be at the event, serving hot
dogs, Polish sausages and
pop for lunch from 11 a.m.-
1 p.m.
Participants can reg-
ister the day of the event.
For more information, go to
www.kerrigansrun.com.
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