Jaime Sawchuk and her husband Greg honoured their late infant son in the most colourful of ways this week, splashing rainbows on more than 100 willing participants during the first Vaughn’s Memorial Colour Run.
“I talked to him the night before and I just kind of said, ‘This is for you. This is what we want to do,’” said mom Jaime. “I totally believe he was there with us.”
Vaughn was just 28 days old when he passed away in 2014, after undergoing seven surgeries during his short life. He was born with Ebstein’s Anomaly, a rare congenital heart defect that influences the functionality of the heart.
Jaime said she’s always been a runner, and she leaned on the sport for support as she healed from the heartbreak of losing a child.
“I used running as kind of a therapy. It was something I could just go and do — just put my shoes on,” she recalled. “When your head starts to spin and you don’t know what to do ... my husband would say, ‘Just go for a run.’”
That same spirit was alive during Sunday’s gathering, where more than 100 people signed up to take part in a 5K, 10K or kids’ 1K events.
The Sawchuk’s two other children, five-year-old Rocco and Levyn, 2, also took part in the day, which was filled with laughs as people got blasted with coloured powder along their routes.
“My cheeks were sore, I was smiling so much. It was so fun to see the kids playing as they were, covered in powder,” said Jaime. “I wanted it to be fun. There’s lots of times when it’s still not fun for me … (but) I wanted to be happy that day and feel the excitement and connect that … to him.”
The first annual colour run raised funds for the Vaughn Sawchuk Memorial Foundation, a charitable organization that collects money for the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and Little Heart Heroes.
Sawchuk said organizers are already planning for next year’s race.
