Nurse Goes the Distance

Dawn Johnson, a nurse on the vascular surgery floor at the Mayo Clinic, raised money on behalf of VDF in an extraordinary (and exhausting) way. She participated in the Janus Charity Challenge and Ironman Coeur d'Alene. To do this, Dawn swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and ran 26.2 miles (a marathon). Ironman triathlons begin at 7 a.m. and participants must finish by midnight. Dawn did just that. She wanted to raise money for VDF because her father died from the rupture of an undetected abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). She told us, "If only at the time we would have known the symptoms, he could have made it to see a physician."

Dawn plans to do it again next year at the Wisconsin Ironman Triathlon. If you want to contribute to Dawn's efforts, please let us know. Thanks, Dawn, for giving your all to support VDF and helping to raise awareness about vascular disease!