A dance marathon at Chicago's Renaissance Hotel was held to raise money for Children's Memorial Hospital. The third-annual event was scheduled for 13.1 hours and was expected to raise more than $375,000.
The event was held for children like Jack Benjamin, who was diagnosed with a rare liver disease when he was 2 months old.
"I can't even describe, it was like my world came crashing down around me," said his mother Noelle Krimm. "By the time he was 2 months old, his gallbladder was gone, the disease had eaten through that and was eating up into his liver and there was no way to stop it"
At 5 months old, after going into liver failure, doctors decided to Transplant part of his father's liver into Jack in an emergency transplant surgery Children's Memorial Hospital.
Jack is now a healthy and happy at 3. And his mother believes that wouldn't have been possible without the care Jack got at Children's.
"Not every Chilren's Hospital does transplants, it's the hospitals with the strong foundation and the money to put towards research so these top-notch doctors want to be there and have their work supported," she said.
So hundreds of dancers were moving their feet and sweating for 13.1 straight hours to help children like Jack and so many others....
"You know what they've gone through and you know their journey," said dancer Michele Lengerman. "It's really not hard at all to stand on your feet for 13 hours"
To help, visit www.chicagodancemarathon.org
