Thanks to Bikram Yoga Calgary South

I would like to thank Bikram Yoga Calgary South for having Brianne's LEAP of Hope as the Charity for Friday night "Karma" night in June, 2011. $480.00 was raised and we thank you and are so very grateful!!

Below is the article as it appeared in the BYCS newsletter.

PATTI ZABOT AND BRIANNE'S LEAP OF HOPE

My name is Patti Zabot, I have attended Bikram Calgary South Yoga since October 2010. It has become an integral part of healing for me personally, physically (having an artificial disc replacing C6/C7 in February 2011) and spiritually; I am very proud to call Bikram Calgary South my "yoga home".

I have been blessed with two daughters, Kayla, now 15, and Brianne, who was our youngest. Brianne was born a perfectly healthy baby. When she was 11 months old, we began to have concerns about her balance and movements. This led to a three-and-a-half year journey filled with many hospital admissions, tests galore and a long list of unanswered questions. We learned that Brianne suffered from an leukodystrophy, an extremely rare metabolic disorder affecting the white matter of her brain. Leukodystrophy is very difficult to diagnose and, unfortunately, the treatment is to simply deal with symptoms as they arise.

Just as a plastic coating covers and protects the wires of an electrical cord, a myelin sheath protects the central nervous system in the gray and white matter of the brain. Brianne had a small lesion in the white matter (responsible for all motor control), deep within her brain. As a result, one part of her brain would have difficulty sending messages to another part of her brain, similar to what would happen if the coating on an electrical cord was not intact, causing short circuiting. Sadly, Brianne eventually lost most of her physical abilities, developed uncontrollable seizures, and succumbed to this disease from pneumonia at four-and-a-half years of age, on February 22nd of 2003.

Shortly thereafter, Brianne's LEAP of Hope was formed; it is a registered non-profit charity. Brianne's LEAP (Luekodystrophy Education and Awareness Project) of Hope is dedicated to raising public awareness of, and medical research into, rare childhood metabolic diseases, especially those affecting the white matter of the brain.

For nine years, we have held Brianne's Hope for a Miracle Run/Walk, sold books and held other creative fundraisers in her memory, in order to help other families who have children with life limiting illnesses. Since 2003, our efforts have raised $251,000, which has gone toward research into leukodystrophy, to the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, and to the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada. May 26th, 2011, marks the 5th Annual Teamsters Charity Golf Tournament, held in Brianne's memory at D'Arcy Ranch in Okotoks.  

We are incredibly grateful to be the recipient of funds from BYCS Karma classes for June, 2011. We are very proud that we will be able to continue to help other terminally ill children and their families in our community through the beautiful energy created in this sacred space at Bikram Yoga Calgary South. Thank you and ...

Namaste,

- Patti Zabot and family

Please visit our website:  www.briannesleapofhope.org