Three-year-old Anna Marie Ott of Orangeburg spends her days practicing the alphabet, learning her numbers, swinging and watching Disney movies.

When she is not busy with her variety of interests, Ott goes beyond herself helping her mom and dad watch and care for her six-month-old younger brother, Clayton.

Vibrant, happy, energetic are the adjectives parents Robert and Terry use to describe their daughter.

For those not acquainted with Ott, her 3-year-old life may seem quite ordinary.

She and her parents know this is far from the case.

Ott, who was born six weeks premature and weighed 4 pounds and 8 ounces, spent 17 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Palmetto Richland in Columbia suffering from respiratory distress syndrome.

Her underdeveloped lungs required the Otts to place Anna Marie in a March of Dimes-supported surfactant therapy program where the child was given the opportunity to receive the necessary care for further developmental maturity.

In appreciation for the care received through the March of Dimes, on Saturday the Ott family is leading the way in WalkAmerica, the organization's biggest and best-known fund-raising event to support research and raise money to find the causes of premature birth.

In its 56th year, the 4.5-mile WalkAmerica trek will begin at 9 a.m. at the William J. Clark Middle School.

"We have always given money to the March of Dimes, but we never knew that the contributions that we were making would be an investment to our child and her future," Mrs. Ott said. "My husband and I wonder sometimes how long she would have been in the hospital and if her development recovery would have been as successful."

Through their concrete experience with the program, the Otts continue to share with family and friends the importance of supporting the March of Dimes.

"Premature birth is a bigger problem than people think," Mrs. Ott said.

She is correct.

The issue affects more than 460,000 babies in the United States every year and is the leading cause of newborn deaths.

Sponsored by Zeus Industrial Products, Electrolux and Time Warner Cable, along with Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina on the state level, the walk will be complete with refreshments and entertainment as well as an awards ceremony with Russ T. Fender of Wiggle 102.9 FM as host.

In addition to serving as ambassador for the walk, the Ott family believes the day is going to be bittersweet for another, more profound reason.

Those individuals who personally helped pull Anna Marie through those trying times will once again have an opportunity to reunite with the child.

Paul Miller, Orangeburg mayor and honorary chair of the WalkAmerica, said helping a good cause is crucial to finding a solution.

"We need to find answers, and you can help," Miller said. "By walking and raising money in WalkAmerica, you support March of Dimes' efforts to help babies be born healthy right here in Orangeburg and across the state."

The state chapter of the March of Dimes invested more than $3.5 million in program services, including research grants and local community services, last year alone.

Through these grants, the organization is seeking ways to prevent birth defects and infant deaths, increase access to prenatal care and educate men and women about having healthy babies.

Beyond this, over the past 33 years, WalkAmerica has raised more than $1 billion for the cause.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551.

You must be logged in to comment.