{"id":4214,"date":"2016-11-14T15:44:33","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T21:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/?p=4214"},"modified":"2016-11-14T15:45:53","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T21:45:53","slug":"physical-therapy-students-honor-the-memory-of-alumna-sara-pigg-walker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/2016\/11\/14\/physical-therapy-students-honor-the-memory-of-alumna-sara-pigg-walker\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Therapy Students Honor the Memory of Alumna Sara Pigg Walker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/div>\n

Belmont University Doctorate of Physical Therapy students played an important role in honoring a fellow 2003 Belmont DPT alumna, Sara Pigg Walker, on September 25.\u00a0 Belmont\u2019s current DPT students organized a Kids for Kids Fun Run, a new event added to the annual Sara Walker Run 5K, where\u00a0kids were encouraged to run for children\u00a0around the globe.\u00a0 Belmont\u2019s DPT students teamed up with the Sara Walker Foundation and Lipscomb University to help organize this event in honor of Sara Walker, by spreading her message of hope through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

The first Sara Walker Run occurred in April 2011, when Sara\u2019s Belmont PT family wanted to\u00a0raise funds for Sara\u2019s medical expenses\u00a0after\u00a0she was diagnosed with cancer. Her 2003 classmates, with the help of\u00a0the Belmont School of Physical Therapy faculty and STAR Physical Therapy, successfully organized this family-friendly 5K race for hundreds of Sara\u2019s friends, family and blog readers to offer support and encouragement. Due to its success, and in an effort to continue to honor Sara, the annual Sara Walker Run continues today and serves as the Sara Walker Foundation\u2019s main fundraising event.<\/p>\n

Sara\u2019s Story:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"walkerrunc2016\"Sara\u2019s story begins when her life changed drastically in December 2010. She was happily married to her husband Brian, had two healthy boys, Camden (age 5) and Scott (age 3), and was expecting their third child to be delivered only days before Christmas. On December 6, their wedding anniversary, Sara gave birth to her still-born daughter, Anna Elizabeth. Just four weeks later, multiple suspicious lesions were found on Sara\u2019s liver, and in January 2011, on her 33rd birthday, Sara was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. After 16 rounds of chemotherapy and\u00a0three clinical research trials, Sara\u2019s earthly struggle with cancer ended in August 2012, at the age of 34.<\/p>\n

During her life, Sara had two great loves\u2013writing and bringing souls to Jesus Christ. From January 2011 until she passed away,\u00a0she utilized her love of writing to provide encouragement, always pointing her readers to Jesus. She candidly wrote of her physical, emotional and spiritual battles, hoping and praying she could provide encouragement to at least one reader. God took her story and writings and reached over 700,000 readers worldwide! What resonated most with her audience was the concept of \u201csavoring.\u201d She expressed frequently the value of enjoying\u00a0the little things life has to offer and seeing each moment as a gift from God.<\/p>\n

Because of her great outreach to the lost and hurting, her family and close friends established The Sara Walker Foundation in 2012 to continue to provide hope to others in her honor. Because of Him, her story continues today.<\/p>\n

Sara Walker Foundation and Belmont University:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, Belmont and the Sara Walker Foundation were able to provide two current DPT students with scholarships in Sara\u2019s honor. \u00a0Recipients were 3rd year students Maggie Kell and Taylor Emberton. The Foundation also added two new board members to represent Sara\u2019s connection with Belmont \u00a0and the DPT program including Christi Williams, 2005 alumna and assistant professor of physical therapy, and Jennifer LaRocca, 2003 alumna and close friend and classmate. \u201cI cannot describe how honored I was to be asked to serve as a board member of the Sara Walker Foundation this past year,\u201d Williams said. \u201cSara\u2019s story is remarkable, and to me she is a perfect representation of the overall mission of Belmont University, which is to \u2018transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage and faith.\u2019 Sara did all of that, and through her story, she continues to do so today.\u00a0Words do not describe what it is like to be a part of something so much bigger than yourself. Seeing the current PT students become part of Sara\u2019s story is yet another example of how incredibly special the Belmont PT family is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sara\u2019s sister Dinah Hall, also a Belmont DPT alumna (2006), with the help of Williams, LaRocca, Kell and Emberton, successfully added a Kids for Kids Fun Run this year for more than 200\u00a0kids. \u00a0The Fun Run included multiple obstacles and events designed and organized by Belmont\u2019s current DPT students.\u00a0 This student team was led by scholarship recipients Kell and Emberton.<\/p>\n

Kell stated, \u201cAs the 2016-2017 Sara Pigg Walker Scholarship recipients, Taylor and I were kindly asked by the Foundation to lead the Kids Fun Run. We were honored to hold this position as Sara was also part of the Belmont PT family. Although our contribution was quite small compared to her works, it meant the world to us that the Foundation wanted Belmont to have a large role in living out her dream. Sara Walker has inspired and invested in numerous lives and we hope to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emberton commented, \u201cHer legacy still fervently spreads joy to not only her family and friends, but to so many people in need across the globe\u2014and this is so evident as you just stand and take a moment to look around when you are surrounded by hundreds of people who participate in the Sara Walker Run. I never knew Sara, but she makes me proud to be a student of the Belmont University School of Physical Therapy program, and she has inspired me to channel a passion for my profession to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to help those who are often overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s run included nearly 700 participants, and featured\u00a0a new event\u2014the Kids for Kids Fun Run and children\u2019s worship service led by Sara\u2019s Dad \u2018Papa Pigg\u2019.\u00a0 The event successfully raised $75,000 of which 100 percent will go toward missions supported by the Sara Walker Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event would not be possible without our Belmont PT family and friends,\u201d Hall said.\u00a0\u201cThe Foundation is grateful to have current Belmont DPT students join us in making our first annual Kids for Kids Fun Run a success.\u00a0 We hope our connection with Belmont School of Physical Therapy grows as God continues to open doors of service to those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about Sara\u2019s story, the mission of the Sara Walker Foundation and the lives she has touched and continues to inspire today, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Belmont University Doctorate of Physical Therapy students played an important role in honoring a fellow 2003 Belmont DPT alumna, Sara Pigg Walker, on September 25.\u00a0 Belmont\u2019s current DPT students organized a Kids for Kids Fun Run, a new event added … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chs","category-physical-therapy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4216,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4214\/revisions\/4216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}