“The doctors said I’d never run again, but I’m about to prove them wrong!”
For Chris Rose, Run For The Dream means running to demonstrate strength, resilience, and the power of hope. This time last year, she had recently emerged from a prolonged illness that left her life – and the life of her unborn child – in the balance. This year, she’ll be a walking participant at Run For the Dream 2015!
Dreaming the Beautiful Dream Since the Beginning
Chris witnessed Beautiful Dream Society grow from the very beginning. In 2008, she heard BDS Founder, Jennifer Crow, recount her actual dream that inspired the establishment of Beautiful Dream Society. Since then, Chris’s family has consistently supported BDS. Her husband, Garron, and his company, Create the Movement, designed BDS’s website and help BDS with IT needs. In fall of 2013, Chris prepared and planned to visit BDS Lesotho that November. Upon finding out that she was unexpectedly pregnant with her fourth child, however, she decided to postpone her Lesotho trip.
ER, ICU, H1N1, ARDS
Not far into her pregnancy, in October 2013, Chris developed a cough that never really went away. Just before Christmas, she went to the Emergency Room when her breathing became difficult and labored. Her doctors quickly admitted her to the Intensive Care Unit after diagnosing her with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) as a result of having 
contracted the H1N1 virus. Her team of doctors did their best to treat her, but everyone knew what they really needed was a miracle – the doctors had never seen a case where a pregnant woman survived ARDS.
The doctors put Chris into a medically induced coma. They had a plan to save the baby should the worst come, but that plan did not necessarily include their ability to save Chris. Many times the doctors did not expect her to make it.
Proving Them All Wrong
Nonetheless, after weeks in the coma, Chris awoke one day to a janitor mopping her room. The janitor was excited to see her, as he’d been training to become a hospital chaplain and had prayed many times for Chris’s healing. One month of physical rehabilitation later, and Chris was released with a walker and oxygen tank to await giving birth to her child.
Weeks later, Chris gave birth to her healthy son, with no complications. A little on the small side, the baby displayed no lingering results of the illness his mother had fought during her pregnancy.
This time last year, at Run for the Dream 2014, Chris pushed her miracle son in his stroller, her oxygen tank in tow, to cheer on her husband as he ran in the 10K. Her efforts that day zapped her energy, but never her enthusiasm! The next miracle arrived shortly thereafter: although doctors had told Chris she would need to be on oxygen for at least one year, merely six months after her release, Chris no longer needed her oxygen tank.
What A Difference A Year Makes
“This past year, I have made leaps and bounds in my recovery. I got off the oxygen and ditched the walker. The ‘permanent damage’ to my lungs left me in an asthmatic state, but I very rarely have to get the inhaler out, praise God! I’ve started walking the neighborhood and sing on a regular basis in Victory Kids again – this has been THE BEST rehab workout for my lungs!”
Indeed, here it is, one year later, and Chris will be participating as a walker, pushing her miracle son in his stroller, in Run for the Dream 2015! Watch out, because she’ll be back for Run for the Dream 2016: “Next year I’d like to be jogging again!” We believe in you, Chris! We are so honored you are putting your effort and energy into supporting Beautiful Dream Society through your miraculous recovery! We look forward to rooting for you on June 6th!