MAYWOOD -- Approximately 45,000 runners will take to the streets of Chicago for 26.2 miles of sheer determination and triumph later this week. Among these runners are two people who overcame great odds to return to the course.
*While most moms of young multiples are busy chasing their little ones around the house, marathon runner Becca Farrell, 34, hit the road with her two-year-old triplets in tow to prepare for the race of a lifetime. This mom of three survived a particularly difficult pregnancy thanks to specialists at Loyola University Health System. Farrell has since come back to demonstrate that moms of multiples can do anything. In fact, she was selected for her inspiring story to appear in various race promotional materials.
*Two hospitals told seasoned marathon runner Kathleen Kanter to stop running after she suffered a stroke. She then turned to specialists at Loyola University Health System who identified a previously undiagnosed heart defect and kidney problem that contributed to the stroke. Thanks to their care, Kanter made a full recovery in time to run the 2008 Chicago Marathon. To show her appreciation, she gave her physician the medal she received after crossing the finish line. This weekend, Kanter will run her sixth marathon in honor of turning 60 this year.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.