Oct 13, 2009
Wolcott Woman To Memorialize Mother With 5K Run
Karen E. Butler, Vice President of Communications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wolcott Woman To Memorialize Mother With 5K Run
WOLCOTT, Conn. – Although her mother passed away eight years ago, Kristin McCormack says she can still recall her mother’s smell and the “glorious” warmth that radiated from just her smile.
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| At her only daughter’s wedding in 2000, Carol Mosel, on a three-hour pass from the Intensive Care Unit where she was admitted because of complications associated with multiple sclerosis, poses with her daughter, Kristin, and son-in-law Jason McCormack, along with her own parents Ruth and Bill Mosel. Carol Mosel died from the effects of her disease not long after the photograph was taken. |
“One day when I was in second grade, I became sick but because I didn’t have a fever, the nurse sent me back to class,” remembers the Wolcott woman, now 33 years old. “A little while later, my mom appeared in the doorway. I took one look at her and burst into tears and ran into her embrace. She always smelled so fresh and clean; like the outdoors. With her arms around me, I always felt better – safe, protected and loved.”
As anyone will attest, life is full of twists and turns; unpredictable scenarios designed perhaps to test endurance and strengthen bonds of love. By fifth grade, when she was 10 years old, McCormack was told her beloved mother, who was just 33 at the time, had multiple sclerosis – a potentially debilitating disease for which there is no cure.
“My mom was like no other I knew,” says McCormack, choking back tears and apologizing for the emotions overtaking her. “She made us believe in ourselves and assured us we could accomplish anything. She gave everything she had to make sure my brother and I felt loved, accepted and resilient. To learn that my mom had a chronic illness that might rob her of her youthfulness and independence, left me filled with deep sadness. I cried and cried.”
More than 6,000 Connecticut residents battle the unpredictable effects of multiple sclerosis – 450,000 nationwide. Symptoms can include, among other things, numbness and tingling in the limbs, difficulties with vision and speech, stiffness and, in some severe cases, total paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot be predicted.
McCormack’s mother, Carol Mosel, was diagnosed with one of the most progressive forms of the disease, and by 40, she was quite nearly incapacitated, losing forever her ability to walk, speak well or even eat. In fact, multiple sclerosis even robbed her of her vision. But according to McCormack, MS could never take away her resilient spirit, which carried her to the end.
Mosel lost her battle with MS in 2001, but not before being released for a few hours from the intensive care unit to experience her only daughter’s walk down the aisle. Today, McCormack herself is a mother of two young children.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I do not think of my mom and the example she left me,” says McCormack, a new runner who balances her duties as a mom with a part-time position with Old Navy Clothing Co. “I want to leave to my children the same legacy of love my mother left to me.”
In an effort to memorialize her mother and contribute to the fight against MS, McCormack is now uniting her passion for running with her passion to help find a cure. She is hosting Sunday, Oct. 18, the first ever Carol Mosel Memorial 5K Fun Run & Walk to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Connecticut Chapter.
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| Wolcott natives Jason and Kristin McCormack pose with son, Michael, and daughter, Carol, who was named after Kristin’s mother, Carol Mosel, who lost her battle with multiple sclerosis in 2001. |
The run will take place at Hop Brook Park in Naugatuck. Cash cannot be exchanged at the government operated park and as a result, registrations must be mailed in prior to the run. There is a $25 donation requested for adults and a $15 donation requested for children 12 and under. Registration forms are available for download on Facebook and MySpace. Enter Carol Mosel Memorial 5K in each social network’s site search engine. The run begins at 11 a.m. and will conclude with lunch, medals, balloon sculptures, giveaways, face painting and much more. Community partners include Pat’s Catering, Anderson’s Auto Electric, Co., Wowgreen, Fit4U Personal Training and Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Centers. and SEEC Financial.
McCormack can never bring her mother back. However, she is convinced that through her life’s journey, which includes the establishment of the annual 5K memorial run, she will keep her mother’s legacy alive, emulating to others the same unconditional love extended to her first by her mother.
“I can’t put into word the feelings I have for my mom,” says McCormack, now smiling. “She was always there for me – even in her illness. And I’m now here for here. Although she’s gone now, the fight is not finished, and neither am I.”
For more information or to request a registration form, please contact Kristin McCormack at 203-525-2853 or e-mail at mccormack_1@sbcglobal.net. For more information on multiple sclerosis and programs and services available for those with MS, please visit www.ctfightsMS.org.
9/28/09
Karen E. Butler
Vice President / Communications
kbutler@ctfightsMS.org
work: +1 860.714.2300, ext. 230
cell: +1 860.997.4487
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