WHAT: Zeek Taylor is visiting Atlanta to speak at the Cobb County and Downtown Atlanta annual WalkAmerica campaign kickoff luncheons.  This is the first stop on his multi-city tour of the United States during 2007 as the March of Dimes National Ambassador.

WHEN: January 31, 2007 - Cobb County Kick-Off, 12:00 – 1:00pm; February 1, 2007 – Downtown Atlanta Kick-off, 11:30am – 1:00pm

WHERE: Hyatt Regency Suites NW – Cobb Country Kick-off; Georgia Aquarium – Downtown Atlanta Kick-off

(ATLANTA, GA, January 8, 2007)— As the March of Dimes 2007 National Ambassador, seven-year-old Ezekiel “Zeek” Taylor of Durham, North Carolina will make his first stop in Atlanta to help kick-off the annual March of Dimes WalkAmerica campaign. The country’s oldest walking event, and the March of Dimes largest fund-raiser, WalkAmerica supports research and programs that help fight threats to the health of more than 500,000 babies in the U.S. who are born too soon every year.  Born 14 weeks early, Zeek, along with his family, will share a personal story of premature birth at the Cobb County and Downtown Atlanta Kick-off luncheons, which host WalkAmerica team captains from hundreds of local companies and Family Teams.

Zeek and his parents, Betty and Corey, are traveling the nation throughout the coming year to help raise awareness of the growing crisis of premature birth, which has increased by more than 30 percent in the U.S. since 1981 – with a special emphasis on premature birth among African-American women, who are 50 percent more likely to have a preterm baby than women of other races/ethnicities.

The Taylor Family’s Story

Following the premature birth of his son Zeek, Corey Taylor spent many frightening days watching both his wife, and their tiny baby fight for their lives.  Betty had developed complications 26 weeks into her pregnancy and rushed to the emergency room at Duke University Medical Center.  Doctors told Corey that his wife was in danger of heart failure and coma, and the baby was in distress -- they needed to perform an emergency Cesarean section.  

While both mom and baby made it safely through the delivery, Zeek spent his first 103 days of life in the neonatal intensive care unit, fighting to survive.  He was given surfactant therapy to help his immature lungs inflate between each breadth, and went on to fight and win one medical battle after another — anemia, abnormal blood flow from the heart, and newborn jaundice.  Even after he went home, Zeek faced surgery to correct reflux problems, retinopathy of prematurity, hernias, and pressure on his brain due to meningitis, which developed as the result of a simple ear infection. 

Betty and Corey were both deeply affected by their experience with Zeek’s birth and are grateful for the medical advances — many developed by March of Dimes-funded research — that saved Zeek’s life.  “Our family is forever indebted to the March of Dimes,” says Corey.  “It's because of innovative research funded by the March of Dimes, and the specialized care Zeek received at birth, that he enjoys a happy, normal life.  We can’t say thanks enough for his remarkable outcome, and we look forward to sharing our story with families all across the nation.”

The March of Dimes National Ambassador Program is an annual campaign, started in 1946, that puts a face on the March of Dimes mission.  Throughout the year, the National Ambassador attends events and conferences, speaks with volunteers, does media interviews and appears with corporate leaders, celebrities and the President of the United States to raise awareness of the March of Dimes. 

Since its beginning 37 years ago, WalkAmerica has raised more than $1 billion to help give babies a fighting chance and takes place on the last weekend in April in nearly 1,500 locations across the nation.  Most Metro Atlanta WalkAmerica events will be on Saturday, April 28, 2007.  For more information about WalkAmerica contact the March of Dimes Georgia Chapter at 404-350-9800 or visit http://www.walkamerica.org/.

The 2007 Metro Atlanta WalkAmerica sponsors are AirTran Airways, Publix Super Markets, Kaiser Permanente, BellSouth, Metro Atlanta Automobile Dealers Association, Northside Hospital, Eagle’s Brook Golf, Country Club, WSB-TV, Star 94, Radio One, CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel Outdoor. The 2007 Cobb County WalkAmerica sponsors are Cobb EMC, Georgia Power, Hardin Construction, and ProCore Solutions.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth.

http://www.walkamerica.org/ or www.marchofdimes.com/georgia

Media Contact – Brittney Gove, 404-350-9800 ext. 224 or bgove@marchofdimes.com

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