Mom races in son's memory

COUNTRY MEADOWS — Country Meadows resident Julie Fazio learned more about life in nine days then most people learn in a lifetime.

It was in those nine days that Fazio watched her infant son, Frankie, who was born without control of his muscles, endure countless medical tests in hope of finding a diagnosis.

Fazio was 16 weeks pregnant when she first learned there might be something wrong with her son’s health. After an ultrasound revealed a spot on Frankie’s neck, Fazio went for an amniocentesis, which came back normal.

It wasn’t until she gave birth to a 6-pound, 3-ounce baby boy that Fazio discovered something was wrong.

Nine days after giving birth to her second son, Fazio learned Frankie, who had been placed on a ventilator and had continually gotten worse, had been born with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that causes muscle damage and weakness.

Shortly after receiving the diagnosis, Frankie’s lung collapsed, and he died in his mother’s arms the same day.

“It was nine long days of tests,” Fazio said. “You go into mom-mode because you’ve got to take care of the younger ones and you’ve got doctors telling you what can and can’t be done. I was in that state for nine days.

“I would never trade those nine days,” Fazio said. “He taught me more about life than anybody I’ll ever meet. It makes you look at things very differently.”

Now 14 years later, Fazio is preparing to honor her son’s memory by running the New York City Marathon for Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (FSMA). Frankie would’ve turned 14 years old July 4.

Fazio, who follows the charity through Facebook and regularly donates money to FSMA, saw that FSMA was putting a team of five individuals together to run the NYC Marathon.

“I saw that come up and I saw it as the perfect opportunity,” Fazio said. “I was wary about it at first. They were only taking five, and I missed out at first. But, then, somebody dropped out and I went ahead and said, ‘I’ll do it.’”

Fazio has pledged to raise $3,000 for the cause. Those interested in making a donation or learning more about spinal muscular atrophy can visit Julie’s FSMA fundraising page on Facebook.

Fazio, who recently ran the Disney Marathon, has already begun training for her first NYC Marathon. Fazio spends three days a week running, dedicating each day to a specific target area, including speed work, distance and hill runs. In addition, Fazio also does yoga, bikes and swims once a week and does weight training two to three times a week.

“I’m out there every day (exercising),” said Fazio, whose 12-year-old twin daughters, Sarah and Emma, have been cheering her on throughout her training sessions. “We’re a very athletic family, and, yet, my husband and I both have this one gene that we carry around that could have taken that away. We’re thankful for what we’ve been given, and what better way to honor him than by running a marathon.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].