SPOTLIGHT
Gymnasts Rally For
A Great Cause BY NATALIE OTIS
GYMNASTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND
Maine are rallying around 14-year-old
Level 7 gymnast Katie Prouty as she
goes out into the community to raise
awareness about a disease that has
shaken her family to the ground for
the past four years.
Katie’s dad, Robert, found out
four years ago he had contracted
Hepatitis C as a result of a blood
Katie’s teammates at
transfusion during his military service
Atlantic Gymnastics
in 1976. Hepatitis C is an insidious disease
Training Center in
that, once in the blood stream, results in
Portsmouth, N.H.
disease of the liver and often takes 25 to
30 years to manifest itself.
It was just four years ago that the
Robert Prouty realized he had been infected and he now takes
handfuls of medications and suffers from chronic liver problems.
What Katie wants is to help raise money for research and
possibly a $150,000 liver transplant for her father. But, more than
that, she says she wants people to know that there is a reason
Hepatitis C is called a “silent epidemic” or a “silent dragon.” It is
because many people don’t know they even have it. Surprisingly,
4 million Americans have been infected with the disease, but
only 1 million know it.
“A lot of people don’t know they have it or what Hepatitis
C is,” said Katie. “A lot of my teammates didn’t even know
what it was.”
In an effort to raise money and awareness Katie decided
more than six months ago that she was going to organize
a road race to help both her father and others that have
Hepatitis C. The race is May 21 and is called the Dragon Slayer
6k. Katie said she expects anywhere from 250 to 500 people and
in the masses will be nearly all of Katie’s teammates at Atlantic
Gymnastics Training Center in Portsmouth, N.H.
“As things progressed with Bob’s (Robert) illness and Katie
started organizing the road race, the team all jumped in and there
was an immediate rallying of the troops. I think their opinion
was, ‘Hey, don’t mess with my teammate’”, said Katie’s coach and
gym club owner Tony Retrosi. “A lot of the older girls immediately
challenged me to run in the race. I am not only going to run, I am
going to finish. Katie has been so inspirational to everyone in the
gym; I will not let her down.”
And while her coach feels she has been an inspiration to the girls in
the gym, it is Katie that credits her years in gymnastics with giving her
the will and skills she needed to put such a race together.
“Gymnastics has taught me how to face challenges and work through
things,” Katie said. “The people here are like my family and that gives me the
strength to do this. I have had bad days with my dad and I can always say
that when I get to the gym my teammates have a way of pulling me up and
making things fun.”
To support Katie and her family go to www.dragonslayer6k.org. Contributions can
be made to support research or Robert Prouty’s liver transplant by writing to The
Prouty Family, 18 Old Mast Road, York, Maine 03909.
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