Arkansas Father Ready to Run in Baby Daughter's Memory
By: Drew Williams, KARK 4 News
Updated: February 28, 2013
Family matters for an Arkansas father looking for a way to honor the memory of his baby girl.
Briley Faith Turner was born with SMA, a condition that ensured she wouldn't spend much time on this earth. KARK first brought you her story in December. She passed away just two months after being born. Now, while runners are competing for their best times in the Little Rock Marathon on Saturday, Briley Faith's dad is ready to run in her memory.
"This is in honor of her. She lived two months, and when I decided to do this, I had two months to train," Josh Turner said, "Seeing her fight for those two months has given me a desire to do this."
"I'm so proud of him. It's neat that as a dad, he wants to do something like this," said Crystal Turner, Briley Faith's mother.
Josh says the training process wasn't easy.
"At first I thought 'I can't make it from the couch to a half-marathon in two months', but we're gonna make it happen," he said.
Turner wore his iPhone on his arm as he trained. The background picture was Briley Faith's face.
"When it gets tough, I just look down [at my phone]," he said.
Another Arkansas family experienced the loss of their 3-month-old son Miller last year to SMA.
They created the Miller McNeill Woodruff Foundation to garner donations for research to find a cure and to assist other families struggling against this deadly disease. If you are inspired by Briley's story and would like to make a difference, you can make a donation to that local foundation by clicking the link above.
Briley Faith Turner was born with SMA, a condition that ensured she wouldn't spend much time on this earth. KARK first brought you her story in December. She passed away just two months after being born. Now, while runners are competing for their best times in the Little Rock Marathon on Saturday, Briley Faith's dad is ready to run in her memory.
"This is in honor of her. She lived two months, and when I decided to do this, I had two months to train," Josh Turner said, "Seeing her fight for those two months has given me a desire to do this."
"I'm so proud of him. It's neat that as a dad, he wants to do something like this," said Crystal Turner, Briley Faith's mother.
Josh says the training process wasn't easy.
"At first I thought 'I can't make it from the couch to a half-marathon in two months', but we're gonna make it happen," he said.
Turner wore his iPhone on his arm as he trained. The background picture was Briley Faith's face.
"When it gets tough, I just look down [at my phone]," he said.
Another Arkansas family experienced the loss of their 3-month-old son Miller last year to SMA.
They created the Miller McNeill Woodruff Foundation to garner donations for research to find a cure and to assist other families struggling against this deadly disease. If you are inspired by Briley's story and would like to make a difference, you can make a donation to that local foundation by clicking the link above.
