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By Stephen Press
Hometown Weekly Staff
When Aurora Richards first saw an email about the Trailblaze Challenge 2016, a 30-mile hike on the Mahican-Mowhawk Trail to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, she knew it was something she had to do.
"I've always been kind of waiting," says Richards. "When this email came that they were doing [the hike], I was like: 'Ah, let me try to do this for them!'"
For Richards, the impulse to help Make-A-Wish was more than a little personal. Her 16-year-old daughter, Karen, has battled Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS), a rare condition that is a collection of inherited disorders affecting connective tissues, making them fragile. The result of Karen's condition: at the tender age of 16, she has already undergone 20 surgeries and relies on the constant intervention of doctors to keep her healthy.
"I think people take for granted how much we are dealing with life-threatening conditions and all these doctors," reflects Aurora. "That's what your life starts revolving around, along with school, if you can get them in school. So there's no such thing as 'down-time.' There's no such time as them being a kid."
Enter the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which granted Karen a wish three years ago.
"They literally came in and said: 'What do you want to do, Karen?'" explains Aurora. "She listed wishes and they came up with a bunch of different scenarios, and she had a wish team, and they just planned the whole thing."
It was transformative - not only for Karen, but for her whole family.
"For a week out of her life, instead of a hospital or doctor or surgery, she was a kid. She chose a trip to London," she fondly reflects. "They sent the whole family out there. As a family, it's something we never get to do, because our extra resources and time go towards keeping the kids healthy. It's amazing how something that little can have such a lasting impact. It's just a breath of fresh air."
"So the hike was easy to do for them. I'd do anything for [Make-A-Wish]."
That doesn't mean the hike itself was easy.
"It's funny," says Richards. "When we first signed up, I was thinking: 'Oh, you know, I average about three miles an hour when I fast-walk.' So I thought: 'Oh, that's doable. Ten hours.' And then you start doing it on hiking terrain - up mountains, stuff like that - and then you realize, three miles an hour is not three miles an hour."
That realization begat a sudden - and rather rigorous - training regimen.
"We scrambled, and next thing I knew, it was a big training thing to get going," she says. "Hiking four to five times a week. Every weekend before the hike, we'd up it. The last weekend before, it was 21 miles. That took 11 hours."
And so, on October 1, Aurora Richards started hiking the Mahican-Mohawk Trail. "I didn't make it the whole 30," says Richards. "My knees gave out at 23 miles - but I made it 23 miles."
Despite the physical struggle and rough terrain, Richards had poured her heart and soul into the day. It's something at which she - and especially Karen - are very adept.
"[Karen] is a junior now in high school," she says. "She goes to [The Newman School] in Boston independently, which is awesome. She just started the IB [International Baccalaureate] program this year, so she is swamped with schoolwork. She's really dedicated, though. That's really what she wants to do."
She then pauses to reflect on her journey, her family's journey - not just over the Berkshires, but over the months and years.
"Despite everything that's going on, life is precious," she says. "We kind of want to grab at the moments we have. We want other families in the same situation to be able to do the same.
"I've always told Karen, and Karen feels the same way. You can sit there and just be like: 'Woe is me.' That's all you concentrate on.
"Or you can say: 'Yeah, this sucks, but it's what it is, and there's still good in our life.' It's a thing, but it could always be worse. Why waste time when you can be out doing positive things?"
Those who would like to donate to Make-A-Wish in Aurora's name may do so at this link.
