SAMANTHA GASBARRO and her daughter, Serafina.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Local mom Samantha Gasbarro has three good reasons for running in Monday’s Boston Marathon to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital.
Their names are Serafina, Santino and Vincenzo.
Her daughter Serafina was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot at 18 weeks gestation by her cardiologist at Children’s Hospital. Tetralogy of Fallot is a rare condition caused by a combination of four heart defects that are present at birth. These defects, which affect the structure of the heart, cause oxygen-poor blood to flow out of the heart and to the rest of the body. Infants and children with Tetralogy of Fallot usually have blue-tinged skin because their blood doesn’t carry enough oxygen.
“She had a life-saving open heart surgery at just two months old and has continued to receive amazing care in the months and years that followed,” Gasbarro says. “Serafina is now a happy, healthy, thriving three-year-old.”
Children with untreated tetralogy of Fallot rarely make it to adulthood. But with early diagnosis followed by appropriate surgical treatment, most children and adults who have tetralogy of Fallot live relatively normal lives, though they’ll need regular medical care throughout life and might have restrictions on exercise.
And there’s another big reason Gasbarro will be running the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston on Monday: her son, Santino.
“In October of 2020 Boston Children’s Hospital was there for us again when my son was born three months early,” Gasbarro says. “BCH worked hand in hand with our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital to save his life and today he is a thriving two-year-old. These are two very big and very blessed reasons to be running.”
Samantha and her husband Rob Gasbarro are also the proud parents of five-year-old Vincenzo, who has also received care at Children’s Hospital.
“The hospital’s patient care programs are unusually sensitive to what sick and injured children and their families really need,” Samantha says. “Researchers regularly make amazing discoveries that change children’s lives.”
This will be the third Boston Marathon for Samantha Gasbarro, a 2007 graduate of Wakefield High School (her name was Samantha Cresta back then), where she was a member of Dance Team.
Prior to her first Boston Marathon in 2021, Gasbarro applied and was accepted to join Children’s Hospital’s “Miles for Miracles” marathon team. Applicants with personal connections to the hospital and high fundraising goals are given top consideration. Gasbarro certainly met those conditions.
“I joined the Miles for Miracles team because I believe so strongly in all the amazing things Boston Children’s Hospital does for kids, especially for Serafina,” Gasbarro says.
“One of the questions I get asked often is why I continue to run for Miles for Miracles, why not just run one marathon and be done?” Gasbarro says. “My answer is ‘Because sick kids are coming, and they’ll continue to come.’ The funds raised could provide a cure, a treatment, a procedure, that isn’t available today. They will provide hope for future families. And I know first hand how incredibly powerful that is. So I’ll continue to run as long as my legs will allow.”
Gasbarro is working toward her fundraising goal of $8,000. She would be grateful for any help towards reaching and exceeding her goal. Donations can be made on her fundraising web page at fundraise.childrenshospital.org/goto/Serafina_Strong.
From that page, you can also download a mail-in donation form if that is your preference.