I am supporting the Courage Classic for patients like Forest.
Forest's parents Gladys and Casey knew they would be spending a few weeks at Children's Hospital Colorado after his birth in 2016, far away from their home in Montana. In utero, Forest was diagnosed with heart defects that would require open heart surgery at 7 days old. What they didn't see coming was Forest's rare diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome, a craniofacial disorder that, among other symptoms, sometimes caused Forest to stop breathing. Forest and his parents spent the first six months of his life in the Cardiac ICU at Children's Colorado.
In 2019, Gladys and Casey made the difficult decision to move to Colorado to be closer to the expert care at Children's Colorado. During that time, Courage Classic team members began riding in honor of Forest, and Casey began riding himself in 2020. At the 2024 Courage Classic, Casey crossed the finish line with seven-year-old Forest riding right behind him—an unforgettable moment made possible by the caregivers at Children's Hospital Colorado.
