Morgan's Philly Marathon Run for Harboring Hearts

On November 21st, I will be running the Philadelphia Marathon, my first full marathon! I am running to raise money for Harboring Hearts, an organization dedicated to providing emergency housing, transportation, food and other critical resources to heart/liver transplant and cardiac surgery patients and their families.

This organization and their mission is very personal to me. In 2013 during the fall semester of my junior year at Georgetown, I was diagnosed with myocarditis and admitted to the critical cardiac care unit at Weill Cornell/New York Presbyterian Hospital. My condition quickly worsened and caused Congestive Heart Failure. After a long week in the ICU, my heart function started to improve and I was discharged from the hospital on an external defibrillator.

I finished that semester of college from the my parents house in NJ. When I returned to school in the spring of 2014, I found joy in Barre3 classes on the Georgetown waterfront which provided me a low impact way to exercise and strengthen my body. Prior to my diagnosis, I had enjoyed running, and have slowly got back into it over the last five years. Three years ago, I was cleared by my cardiologist to run a half marathon, and have since run 3. This year, I am tackling a goal I set for myself since my recovery - to run a full marathon!

Also this year, I joined the Junior Board of Harboring Hearts so I could further help heart disease patients and families in need. I am forever grateful to the doctors, nurses, staff, and volunteers at Weill Cornell/NYP who provided me world class care and did everything they could to ensure I full recovered.

Every donation to my Philly Marathon run will be donated directly to Harboring Hearts to support patients, families and caregivers in need who are financial hardship associated with heart transplant, liver transplant, and cardiothoracic surgery.

Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me!