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Volunteer Spotlight
Volunteer Spotlight – Giving Time for
a Wonderful Cause…
In our 2006 issue, Nancy Perry Crotty is our Volunteer in
the Spotlight. Nancy truly exemplifies
the qualities a Foundation looks for when working with
volunteers. We had a chance to catch up with Nancy this
summer and she filled us in, below, on her battle with
Lyme disease and her involvement with TTC.
I am 44 years old and am married with four children.
I have 12 year old boy-girl twins who were born with Lyme
because I was infected during my pregnancy and not treated
properly. I also have an eight year old girl and a six
year old boy.
I graduated from NYU with a Bachelor of finance and marketing.
I then worked on Wall Street for seven years before going
back to school for my Masters degree in Public Service
at NYU. I received a Masters degree in public finance
and public health with the intent to work in the public
health arena. While in graduate school, I worked at the
Ronald McDonald House. This organization houses children
being treated for cancer in New York tri-state area hospitals
and their families. Afterwards, I left to focus on my
family.
I have traditionally been a very active athlete until
my sickness made it impossible to participate any longer.
I was a runner, participating in several marathons and
triathlons, until I had to give it up completely in 2001.
My husband is also an avid tri-athlete and runner and
we used to spend most of our free time running, racing,
hiking, biking, swimming, and traveling. Now I take the
kids and watch my husband race if I am having a good day.
Most of the time my health doesn't allow for any traveling
or high energy outings. Now, for the first time in years,
I have hope that I might one day rejoin my husband in
races.
I am a new member of the TTC team, having just joined
a few months ago. So far, on behalf of TTC, I have gone
to the local middle school and high schools in Rye and
have spoken to multiple health classes about prevention,
detection and treatment of Lyme disease. Staci and I hope
to use TTC to educate students at schools in high risk
areas on a widespread basis in the future. I have also
had an article published in the local Rye paper about
TTC and Lyme disease. In May, I hosted an educational
event featuring Dr. Horowitz, of Hyde Park, NY, at my
home in Rye, NY and it had a wonderful turnout. I am here
to be instrumental to TTC in the best ways possible, now
and in the future. I hope that through TTC I can help
others by raising money to further much needed research,
by paying for the training of doctors in becoming Lyme
literate and by helping those that are sick get proper
diagnosis and care.
I have been fighting this disease for 13 years, intensely
for 5 years, and Staci and TTC have enabled me to get
the best care possible. As a volunteer , I would especially like to work with
Dr. Burrascano, author of Diagnostic Hints and Treatment
Guidelines for Lyme and other Tick-Borne Illnesses. He
is a member of the Medical Advisory Board for TTC and
his expertise on Lyme disease and support of the Foundation
have been nothing short of remarkable. On a personal note,
I also owe much of my good health to Dr. Burrascano. I
feel that he is the man that needs to be cloned in order
to save so many very sick people. Dr. Burrascano will
be honored this year at our fundraising event, which will
be on November 2, 2006 at Guastavino’s, a sleek
New York City Eastside hotspot.
I plan to get better and dedicate my wellness to my family,
to all of the sick people out there who need help and
to the doctors who have given so many people back their
lives and given me hope when there was none. I admire
what Staci and Rich Grodin, and all of the TTC members
of the Board of Directors, have done in turning a horrible
life experience into a vehicle to help many people. I
hope to follow in their footsteps.
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