SUPPORTING FAMILIES AFFECTED BY CHD’S THROUGH FITNESS EVENTS

Our son, Jack Morgan, passed away from a congenital heart defect in June 2021. We knew that somehow we wanted to support families affected by CHDs and that lead to Warrior Grip Fitness. We are still growing and evolving, so the way we support may change over the years, but our goal remains the same; support children, adults, and families affected by congenital heart defects by fundraising for research.

Our main fundraising event is the Heart Warriors 5k Run & Walk. Thanks to the support of community businesses, runners, and families, we have been able to donate over $12,000 to help fund research for Congenital Heart Defects! This is an annual race we will host in Lapeer, MI. We hope to expand this event every year and make it even more fun for the community.

HEART WARRIORS 5K 2025 DETAILS

Date/Time:

May 31st, 2025 at 9 AM

ROWDEN PARK

1552 N MAIN ST.

LAPEER, MI 48446

Bring out your family and friends to help support the Congenital Heart Center at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Our 5K course will be 3 laps around a 1 mile loop giving you the unique opportunity to cheer on your runners/walkers throughout the race.

There will be a playscape, vendors, and kids activities.

Runners will receive a finisher medal and t-shirt.*

*If registered by May 10th, 2025.

Timing provided by:

Presented by:

WHO WE ARE

Congenital heart defects are among the most common birth defects. This is a fact that we knew nothing about and like most families, our education was the crash course method. We needed to build a baseline understanding and fast. We knew something was wrong with our son at twenty weeks gestation but did not learn the extent of the problems until twenty-six weeks gestation. Jack was born on June 9th, 2021 and passed away three weeks later on June 30th, 2021.

After losing Jack we knew we wanted to help other families in some capacity but we weren’t sure how. Our projects have expanded over the past few years, but our goals remain the same.

Spread awareness of CHDs (Congenital Heart Defects)
Host fundraising events to raise money to support families currently affected
Adapt to meet the current needs of the CHD community

Through all of this we are able to talk about our son and keep his legacy going. Thank you to all of the friends, families, and local businesses that support this project. Without your support we would not be able to do what we do.

THE MEANING BEHIND OUR NAME

Warrior Grip Fitness may sound like an odd name when you read our goals, but there is a meaning behind each individual word.

Warrior- The sticker on Jack’s cheek.

I will never forget the day I walked in and saw this sticker. We were both drained from the constant worry and stress. Every day had become the same routine. Get to the hospital at 7:30 to hear the doctors plan for the day, get breakfast, be with Jack, get lunch, be with Jack, then go back to the hotel once we talked to the night nurse to get a few hours of sleep.

It was painful. Knowing our son was in pain and not being able to help made us feel useless. He was sedated from day one, some days heavier than others, so he was asleep most of the time. Rarely he would open his eyes and look around and it always made us feel better. We kept track of the amount of surgeries and procedures he had, although neither one of us is strong enough to read through the notes we wrote down. He was a warrior. He fought to stay alive, he fought the nurses, he even fought the machines that were trying to help. The nurses would joke with us that he was doing it on purpose. This is why this sticker means so much, he was a true warrior.

Grip - Holding on to hope.

Jack spent all but a few hours sedated. He struggled to fully open his eyes, and rarely did, but we cherished those moments. He moved his arms and legs a lot, but that could have been involuntary, we'll never know. One thing we could always count on was him holding onto us. If you placed your finger anywhere near his hand he would grab on. We would stand next to the bed for hours when we were able to and just let him hold on to our fingers. Aside from the two times we were able to hold him this was the next best thing.

Fitness - Creating normalcy for one hour.

Our life became very stressful while staying at the hospital. The plan was always changing, the news somehow always seemed to get worse, and we spent all day sedentary. When we would get back to the hotel for the night, to relieve the stress of the day and to help me sleep I would carry a Brute Force Sandbag down to the hotel gym and do the workout they sent out daily. After Jack passed away my obsession with fitness continued to grow. Whether it is running, CrossFit, or mountain biking, I have made friends in each community and continued to get stronger.