Jessica Heywood

I became a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training (TNT), whose mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. For the next four months, I will dedicate my mind and my body to help find a cure for these terrible diseases. I have been training daily and on September 14th I will run, bike and swim the Nation’s Triathlon in Washington D.C. As you may know, I choose my charity endeavors from the heart, such as the Penguin Plunge for Special Olympics; this is no different.
I will be running in honor of a 4 year old little girl recently diagnosed with one of these diseases. Amina has been a student at Gym-Ken Gymnastics since she was two, and she and her family have never let Downs Syndrome stop or hinder her ability to succeed in gymnastics or in life. She has a great spirit and her talent, progress and personality warm every staff member’s heart. We all felt the pain when she was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Throughout my training, Amina will be my own "Honored Hero". She will be a constant reminder that no matter how hard I think 1.5k is to swim, 40k is to bike, or 10k is to run, it doesn’t come close to the race she will run against cancer.