PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine)-- Among the elite runners at the Boston Marathon, there are some athletes who have an even more passionate cheering section. These are the runners who represent children who are patients at Boston Children's Hospital.
One of the patients with a runner taking on the 26.2 miles is 16-year-old Kayla Collins from Windham, Maine. Kayla has a chromosome disorder so rare it still doesn't have a name, and her parents had no idea what it was until they brought their daughter to Boston Children's Hospital. Unfortunately, rare diseases like Kayla's don't always get the research funding they need to be solved- that's where the Collins family comes in.
Since 2015 Kayla, her family, and her runners have raised more than $62,000 for the Miles For Miracles program. These proceeds, along with the money raised by hundred of other children and families, goes toward funding research to save lives like Kayla's.