Peyton’s Promise: Peyton’s Fundraising Parents are in it for the Long Run
The Laricks family: Dustin Jr., mom Debbie, dad Dustin, Quinn and Peyton.
Peyton’s Promise continues its remarkable journey.
There are several ways to assess the foundation bearing the name of a 12-year-old Sea Isle City girl, Peyton Elizabeth Laricks.
One is philanthropic. The organization launched in 2009 by her parents, Dustin and Debbie, has exceeded $500,000 in research money for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A combination of community fundraisers, highlighted by a spring 5K run/2K walk and a fall golf outing, produced a record $100,000 last year.
Totals will vary each year and the coronavirus pandemic may force a 2020 dip (check peytonspromise.com for updated information on this year’s run/walk, scheduled for June 6, and the golf tournament). But the numbers are just one way of keeping score.
Another is gratitude. Dustin and Debbie credit Children’s Hospital with saving Peyton’s life shortly after her birth. That’s when she battled a condition known as Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH), in which a baby’s diaphragm fails to properly form. The abdominal organs migrate into the upper-chest cavity, crowding the space that is needed for the lungs to grow.
Peyton endured 88 days in newborn intensive care, 12 days on life support, and multiple surgeries before coming home for good.
During her fight for life, Peyton’s parents made a promise to help others facing this crisis. The money they’ve raised is used in research to combat CDH. Their foundation slogan is Helping Babies Breathe Easier.
A third measure is faith. Every day Peyton goes through life, and with each accomplishment, the Laricks couple are reminded of the good fight they won in 2008.
“Debbie and I got strength through each other,” says Dustin, the principal agent for Laricks Real Estate. “There was a strong likelihood that Peyton would not survive more than a few days. We had no choice, we had to get through it.
“What helped us at that time is that we made a promise to make a difference, to make things better for others in the future. We wanted something positive to come out of the experience. The only thing that would be positive, we felt, was a foundation. When Peyton did survive and come home, we wanted to keep that promise.
“We are so grateful to be able to give back to the hospital that saved our daughter.”
The origins of Peyton’s Promise came from a journey that was not for the faint of heart.
Debbie knew during the final weeks of her pregnancy that Peyton had been diagnosed with CDH, which has a survival rate for newborns of approximately 50%. She had to give birth, work with the doctors at Children’s Hospital, and then pray that Peyton’s lungs would ultimately work on their own.
Peyton had surgery just four days after she was born and Debbie finally held her daughter after 38 days. Five days later, she got her first look at Peyton’s entire face, now clear of the tubes that had covered it. Slowly, Peyton and the Laricks family climbed out of the woods.
“It was scary, but I am a Catholic my entire life and I just knew deep down that it was going to be OK, no matter how ugly it seemed,” Debbie says. “We had a Care Page up at that time … It was a medical type website. The outpouring of support was unbelievable, and it was awesome. It kept you grounded. There was something calming about it.
“Faith. You need it at the best and worst times,” adds Debbie, an eighth-grade language arts teacher at Bishop McHugh Regional Catholic School. “That’s what got us through.
“Peyton has defied the odds. It’s absolutely incredible. And now here she is getting straight A’s in school. She dances. She runs cross-country and in fact she’s training for the Peyton’s Promise run. Peyton is a miracle. She is so sweet, soft spoken and kind. She is a little sweetheart, the calm energy between her siblings [Dustin Jr., 14, and Quinn, 9].”
Debbie says that, ironically, Peyton has gotten sick the least of her family members.
As Peyton blossoms, the family celebrates her life on new levels. Peyton has already run in, and finished, her own race. She’s been given a key to the city. Debbie has run the race with her.
And the community has responded, propelling the foundation to new heights.
“It’s mind-blowing,” Debbie says. “The first year we did the race [2009], we had a goal of $5,000 and we came close to $20,000. I am not surprised, given the character of my husband. He put his heart and soul behind it. Many of the people who donate are his clients. I am shocked by what has been accomplished with Peyton’s Promise, but I am not totally surprised.
“I feel like we were given this gift, and we had to do something with it. The nurses and the doctors at Children’s Hospital were terrific. We wanted to pay it forward. Perhaps $100,000 is not much to a place like that, but I find it amazing to raise that much in a small community like this and it gets bigger every year.”
Paying it forward takes several forms. One route is foundation events. Another is Debbie’s role as an unofficial counselor for anxious parents.
Children’s Hospital puts her in touch with other parents, who are understandably fearful. Debbie speaks to them from her own experience, providing an uplifting message.
“I tell them CDH is not a death sentence,” she says, “and that the worst thing you can do is Google it. The statistics are bad and they haven’t changed much. But it’s not what it looks like on paper. You don’t know the lung function until the baby is born. Peyton had one of the worst cases they had ever seen and yet today we have this bright, normal little girl.”
A few times each year, during foundation events and the announced disbursement of funds to Children’s Hospital, the public is reminded that Peyton’s Promise is a powerful promise kept.
The Laricks family realizes that every day.
