Beautiful Souls

Beautiful Souls
Beautiful Souls of Amoeba Awareness

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Meet Annie~



We will be sharing Annie's Story in the coming days~ Annie lost her battle to the Amoeba on August 21, 2010. She was from Stillwater, MN and left behind her parents, two brothers and a new baby sister. She swam in Lily Lake in the days prior to her illness, the same lake that Jack Ariola swam in 2 years later where he contracted the amoeba. Please keep an eye out in the next few days to learn more about Annie and her amazing family.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Feeling Blessed!

Hi all~ I have heard back from four individuals that are currently working on telling their family's story about the horrible amoeba. I cannot tell you how humbled and blessed we feel to be able to share with you these beautiful souls, and their stories. I just know you are going to love them all instantly. Each person needs a little time to put it all into writing, but I will share just as soon as I can!!

Blessed beyond belief,


Heidi
<3

Monday, April 7, 2014

2014 Awareness Season Begins

Hello readers,
I realize it has been sometime since I have logged into the Blog and done any writing. My only excuse for this is that a break was needed from it. During the wintertime, here in Minnesota it is difficult to keep the awareness going because it is hard to think about swimming in a frozen lake. We are, however starting the next season of Awareness.

There are few things happening that I want to write about and announce here on the blog.

First, we are so excited that a book will be coming out in May of this year. It is called "A Single Swim" and its author is Kristina Circelli. Kristina is the cousin of Courtney Jean Nash, who fell ill and lost the battle against NF August 12, 2011. Together with Courtney's family, Swim Above Water has collaborated on the writing of this book. We are just so proud of this project and very honored and humbled to be a part of it. There are details on our website on how to get the book once it is released.


Second, Swim Above Water has a new Board of Directors. Visit our web page under "Meet our Team" to see the current board. We are thrilled to add some new members that will certainly have insight and input on our functions and future planning!

http://www.swimabovewater.org/pages/meet-our-team


Third, We are working on another Awareness Rocks event for fall of 2014. It was such a fun event last year and we hope to repeat that this year. Details should come out soon with a Save-the-Date.

Fourth, We will be hosting a Golf Tournament Outing this year. Like the Awareness Rocks, we are getting things up and running and planned with an announcement soon about the details.

Fifth,  We were able to make our first (modest) donation to the CDC for research and development surrounding Naegleria Fowleri. This is entirely possible due to the generosity of others. God Bless you all for supporting this cause. It is not easy to get behind something that is deemed to be "rare" and so many of you have stepped up to the plate for this cause. We love you all!

Lastly, we are in talks with a number of sources in MN to speak about awareness for the season. We are working with a Physician from the University of Minnesota who has agreed to speak about awareness for us! Details to come.

I also plan to open up this Blog for other parents, siblings etc. to write their stories. I just know you will fall in love with the stories with these beautiful souls, just as you have Hailee's. I hope to be able to share some very soon.

All for now,
God Bless,

Heidi

In loving Memory of These Beautiful Souls

Annie Bahneman~ Age 7~ Minnesota
Blake Driggers~ Age 8~ South Carolina
Christian Strickland~ Age 9~ Virginia
Courtney Nash~ Age 16~ Florida
Dalton Counts~ Age 9~Oklahoma
Elizabeth Simms Hollingsworth~ Age 10~ So. Carolina
Hailee Marie LaMeyer ~ Age 11~ Minnesota
Jack Ariola Erenberg~ Age 9~ Minnesota
Jeff Rosenthal~ Age 19~ Florida
John "Jack" Herrera~ Age 12~ Texas
Marissa Claire Cook-Norris~ Age 7~ South Carolina
Mark Kincade~ Age 27~ Texas
Mason Faubel~ Age 6~ Minnesota
Phillip Gompf~ Age 9~ Florida
Waylon Able~ Age 30~ Indiana
Will Matthews~ Age 14~ Louisiana
William Steven Sellars~ Age 11~ Florida
Zachary Reyna~ Age 12~ Florida