FOR A GOOD CAUSE:Miracle of March of Dimes

Like most mothers, when Gloria Macias-Tinoco looks at her baby, she sees a “little miracle.� But the designation seems especially relevant for her 8-month-old son, Keoly, who was born 3 1/2 months premature, weighing only one pound, 11 ounces.

Surviving the first three months of his life hidden among a tangle of tubes in the neonatal intensive care unit at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu, Keoly now spends his days giggling and gyrating in a baby bouncer, and is within his normal weight range.

“The doctors told me he would have a 5% chance of surviving, so it’s amazing now to see him this big,� said Macias-Tinoco, who had to wait almost a month before she could hold her newborn child. “Every day feels like a miracle.�

On Sunday, Keoly and about 60 family members and their friends will join thousands more affected by birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality as they participate in March of Dimes’ WalkAmerica event at Fashion Island, with the goal of raising $900,000 to fund the organization’s research, education and community programs.

“The walk is our largest fundraiser and certainly helps raise awareness for March of Dimes and our prematurity campaign,� said Sally Lawrence, executive director of the organization’s Orange County division. “The goal of the campaign is to reduce the [national] rate of prematurity from 12.1% to 7.6% by 2010.�

Though she didn’t know much about March of Dimes before her pregnancy, Macias-Tinoco became well acquainted with the charity as some of its employees and volunteers helped her through her extended stay in Hawaii, where she had planned to spend only a week for a family reunion.

With her husband and her obstetrician in California, the 28-year-old Newport Beach resident, accompanied by her mother, relied on the guidance, information and activities — which included a baby shower — the volunteers offered during “the hardest time in her life.�

The organization is working on an initiative that would provide at least one such staff member at a hospital in each state, reporting more than 500,000 premature births a year, or approximately one in eight births.

“It is very devastating and emotionally draining for parents when they have a baby in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit],� Lawrence said. “It can really take an emotional toll on a family and these support people are there to help with all that.�

As soon as Keoly is old enough, Macias-Tinoco plans to volunteer to offer the same support to future mothers.

“I owe my sanity to March of Dimes, and I am so happy they are doing that research so maybe other moms can avoid what I went through,� she said. “I want to keep on doing this until my son takes me on the walk in a stroller or a wheel chair.�

To sponsor Keoly and the Tinoco family in WalkAmerica, go to www.walkamerica.org/keolytinoco.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: March of Dimes’ WalkAmerica

WHEN: Registration begins at 7 a.m. Sunday, and the walk starts at 8:15 a.m.

WHERE: The walk will begin and end near Santa Rosa Drive and Newport Center Drive at Fashion Island in Newport Beach

COST: Registration is free, and walkers are encouraged to seek sponsorship.

INFO: www.walkamerica.org or (949) 263-1100