The community showed up in full force for the first Elaina Donahues Rett 5K Run/Walk and Car Show this past Saturday hosted by the City of Checotah and 1-40 Race Services. The event was organized by Elaina’s Mimi, Mindy Whittle, and Papa, Jay Hayes, in hopes of bringing awareness to the devastating neurological disorder they are facing head on with their grandchild. Elaina Grace was diagnosed in 2023 when she was only two years old and now at three years old her family is starting to see more developmental and cognitive issues from this rare genetic disorder affecting her brain.
During the event, Elaina Grace got to meet Emma Grace, another little girl from Fort Smith, AR, who is also battling Rett syndrome.
“When we first got the diagnosis we didn’t quite understand its severity,” Whittle said. “There was hardly no one in this area that even knew what it was, let alone what it did to those who suffered from it, which seemed to be mainly girls. However, as we struggled to understand what we were up against, we wanted to bring awareness to this ‘incurable disease in hopes that one day they will find a cure.”
In 2020, the Rett Syndrome Research Trust successfully completed a 3-year, $33 million strategic research plan, called Roadmap to a Cure. The company is currently working on advanced approaches to target the root cause of Rett’s to learn more about this disease to help manage symptoms and to possibly one day find a cure.
Until that day, Elaina’s family is going to do their best to keep fighting like their t-shirts reads, “She doesn’t fight alone.”
That fact was obvious when 78 runners signed up for the event. The Fun Walk and 5K Run started off the big day with Phillip Kizzia, 60, coming in first in the 60-64 male division with a 23:05 chip time and Margaret Casey, 55, coming in first in the 5559 female division with a 24:36 chip time. One of the oldest runners, Mark Unger, 78, came in 1st place in his age division with a chip time of 38:55. He was also serenaded at the awards presentation because it was his birthday.
A list of all final results can be found on I:40 Race Service on Facebook or by going to runsignup.com.
While some were running to show their support, others were enjoying a cornhole tournament and a car show with 32 entries put on by Rusty Beaver with Horsepower Nutrition.
The cornhole winners were Briana Fields and Zack Mullen.
Winners of the car show were: 1st place – Daphne Fuller, 1955 Chevy 210 2nd place – Ridge Baker, 1971 Dodge Hemi Cuda 3rd place (TIE) Casey Hamm, 1963 Cadillac and David Roden, 1967 California Special Mustang The Mayor’s Choice was Delbert Beaver with his 1967 Dodge Dart.
Winner of the 50/50 was Jason Taylor.
There were also several vendors, food trucks, a bounce house, face painting and several firefighters at the event with their fire trucks.
Three local firefighters, Nic McCutchen, Sean Tiller and Holly Lackey, joined the run in their full turnout gear.
Elaina’s family was overwhelmed by all the love and support they received at the first Rett Awareness event.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We can’t say this enough,” Whittle exclaimed. “I’ve never seen a community come together for someone like ours did! It was absolutely amazing! Our community showed how it should be done. Our sweet Elaina is loved by so many that don’t even know her and don’t have to. They just showed up to kick Retts’ butt! Let’s make this an annual event and kick its butt to the curb. We absolutely love our community and we can’t thank them enough! A total of right around $3,000 was raised!”
Elaina’s family hopes that this event will encourage others to support all special needs kids and adults in the community. The primary goal of raising awareness is to promote engagement and inclusivity of those individuals battling in the spirit of community.
