A University of Connecticut student is raising money for spinal cord injuries in honor of her father.
Grace Moriarty is a seventh-semester studentstudying molecular and cellular biology. She said she started raising money for spinal cord injuries when she was in her junior and senior year of high school. Moriarty said she founded a 5K called “Strides for Spalding5K,” in her hometown of Fairfield, Conn.
In December 2019, her father suffered spinal cord injuries amongst other injuries after being hurt on a skiing trip at Mount Snow, Moriarty said. He had to get surgery for his spinal cord at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital in New Hampshire. At the beginning of his injury, he developed Guillain-Barré syndrome when being in and out of hospitals. Due to his injury, he is now paraplegic, Moriarty said.
When she entered college, she said she wanted to find a way to continue her fundraising efforts. Currently, she’s starting a running company called “With Grace.”
“Through my running and fundraising efforts, my goal is to motivate people to get up, put those running shoes on, and get outside to appreciate the full beauty of the world around them,” Moriarty said.
Moriarty runs marathons to fundraise money, which contributes to her GoFundMe page.
She said she ran the Eversource Hartford Marathon and raised $20,000, and this year she participated in the same marathon, raising an additional $6,000.
Her GoFundMe page started last year and is currently at $24,940 with a goal of $30,000.
“That’s a crazy goal, considering that I really started with a goal on that page of $1,500 and then exceeded that within a week, which was pretty outstanding.
Moriarty said the money being fundraised will go to patients with spinal cord injuries.
“All the money is going towards research and spinal cord injury patients and their families, just to alleviate with life expenses and such,” Moriarty said.
Moriarty has learned a lot about spinal cord injuries. During her time in high school, she spent a lot of time in hospitals, she said.
“I’ve learned that it’s definitely an all-encompassing injury, definitely changes your life completely with the flash of it, with the blink of an eye, ” she said.
Before his injury, Moriarty’s dad was very athletic and loved to go outside and play sports.
“He really was affected by the fact that he can’t exactly do any of those things as the same way he would have previously,” Moriarty said.
She said the biggest part for spinal cord patients is the transition of going from what is considered a normal lifestyle to their new lifestyle.
“Not so necessarily looking at what you can’t do, but what you can do differently, and kind of taking it as an opportunity to learn new ways of life and new ways to incorporate things that you love, continuing for your future,” Moriarty said.
She said that through her studies at UConn, she has been researching a lot about rehabilitation patterns for spinal cord injury patients.
Moriarty said it is interesting to learn more about the injury in general, and that it shouldn’t be a terminating point in someone’s life.
“I think it’s more of just a pivoting point,” Moriarty said.
When Moriarty was in high school, she was the captain of the track team.
“My dad was always my number one supporter. He would go to every track meet, even after his injuries,” Moriarty said.
She said her dad was a coach for both her and her brother’s sports teams growing up and has always encouraged her and supported her.
Sean Moriarty said one of the biggest impacts of his injury is seeing others younger than him, around Grace’s age with similar conditions as him.
“And I don’t take for granted the 35 years of living that I had more than these kids had with the same injury,” Sean said.
He said he gets emotional anytime he thinks about what Grace is doing and all the effort she has put into it.
“All through high school and everything she’s always been very talented… it’s a fun thing to watch as a father,” Sean said.
Moriarty said she is grateful for the support she has received from people.
“It’s just the overwhelming support that we’ve gotten from family and friends and peers and everyone across the world, across all the different areas of all of our lives has really been the most amazing thing,” she said.
The injury has helped her realize the impact you can have on other people’s lives.
“Something that I’ve learned the most is that people really are there for each other, and there is a lot of good in this world,” Moriarty said.
Moriarty is empowered that she has the capability to push herself either through running or educationally.
“I hope my efforts can inspire people to get outside, breathe, and push themselves far beyond their limits. The world is a beautiful place; it’s time we started appreciating the little things more,” Moriarty said.