photo by TaLeiza Calloway
Josie, Madeline and Dan Muyres (left to right) attend a kick-off event for the annual St. Cloud March for Babies at AirMaxx Trampoline Park, St. Cloud. The Muyres are the ambassador family for the annual event this year. 

Dan and Josie Muyres are quick to tell you their 1-year-old daughter, Madeline, would not be alive today without the March of Dimes.

Madeline’s twin sister, Megan, died shortly after complications from birth, and it was the March of Dimes that provided not only resources for medical care but comfort and support. The Muyres are the Ambassador family for the St. Cloud March for Babies this year. About 20 people gathered Feb. 11 at AirMaxx Trampoline Park with the Muyres to help kick off the event, which is slated for April 14. The walk will be held at the Halenbeck Fieldhouse at St. Cloud State University.

“It’s amazing,” Dan Muyres said. “We’ve come a long way.”

The Muyreses said they are excited to serve as the Ambassador family – a family that shares its story to help strengthen the mission of the March of Dimes, is a leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health.

“We are very honored,” Josie Muyres said. “(Sharing our story) helped getting through it. That’s how we healed – by talking about it and sharing it.”

On April 14, the family will walk in honor of Madeline and in memory of Megan. Their March for Babies team is affectionately named, “Maddy’s Way” – a name inspired by Madeline’s 96-day stay in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at St. Cloud Hospital. The nurses said she was a little fighter and wanted things her way.

When Josie became pregnant in 2010, a complication allowed one baby to grow bigger while restricting development of the other. At 25 weeks into her pregnancy, she went into labor. Her babies were born too soon and too small. Madeline weighed one pound, three ounces. Megan weighed less than 13 ounces.

Though Madeline survived, her lungs were underdeveloped and she needed specialized care. The March of Dimes funded researchers who developed the life-saving treatment for her lungs.

Today, Madeline is a bright-eyed and energetic 1-year-old who keeps her parents smiling.

What will always stand out to Josie is the support from the March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program.

She recalled when she was having a rough day, Dan had to work and she just needed someone to talk to. Just being able to talk to someone who has experienced what her family was enduring made a big difference.

Serving as the Ambassador family is one way to give back to a cause that has given them so much, she said.

What she hopes others gain from their story is greater awareness.

Mary Kukula, Central Division director for the March of Dimes, said the annual walk serves as a time to remember and memorialize children for parents. The support can be overwhelming.

“It’s an emotional day,” Kukula said. “It’s a day where they remember they were that child’s parent.”

It can also be a place for survivors to express their gratitude. Alicia Shuman of Eden Prairie was born 23 weeks early. This is her third year participating in the walk. The 22-year-old also sits on the planning committee for the annual event.

Funds raised by March for Babies helps support the NICU Family Support program at St. Cloud Hospital.

Money raised also funds research grants and advocacy efforts for stronger, healthier babies. For more information about the March for Babies, visit: www.marchforbabies.org.