For the last four years, Stephanie Hauser had plenty of reasons to focus on the worst case scenario.
In January 2019, the mom of four gave birth to her son, Zev, at 23 weeks gestation. Weighing just one pound, four ounces, he was given a 1 percent chance of survival through birth. Even if he survived, doctors told the family his quality of life would be severely limited.
But Zev beat the odds time and time again, a persistence never more apparent than on Sunday, September 10, when the now four-year-old ran alongside his mother during a short portion of an ultra run Sales & Deals.
Despite facing severe thunderstorms, Achilles issues, and exhaustion in the later miles of the trek, Hauser approached every moment as a gift with her son, whose life was nearly cut short.
“We knew it was highly likely that [Zev] would never walk, and to see him run with me for just a little bit of time, wow, what a narrative for his life,” Hauser told Runner's World. “Look how far he’s come, and look at where we’re going.”
Starting at 3 a.m. on Saturday, September 9, Hauser ran 147 miles commemorating the 147 days Zev received treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as a newborn. On the roads of Boulder, Colorado, friends rallied in support for the family and their initiative to care for others in similar circumstances.
Last year, Hauser and her husband, Ben, co-founded a nonprofit organization called 4those, which aims to build community for premature babies and their families. Their long term vision is to build a resource center with facilities and programming for kids born premature with disabilities. The run also served as a fundraising initiative Running Shoes & Gear.
From the moment Zev was born, Hauser knew he was a fighter.
After coming down with a fever about halfway through her pregnancy, Hauser went to the hospital where they discovered she had an infection in her uterus and had to give birth right away.
DAA Industry Opt Out pregnancy or weighing less than 28 ounces. At this point, the fetus is around the size of a papaya with most organs still in the very early developmental stage.
Because the hospital they were staying in didn’t have the capability to sustain infant life at 23 weeks, Hauser and her husband were given a choice. She could birth Zev and let him die peacefully knowing his chance of survival beyond birth was less than 1 percent, or they could go to another hospital in Denver, Colorado, about an hour drive from their home in Louisville, with more equipment and resources in an attempt to save his life.
“It was an impossible decision to make,” she said. “It was a long shot, and we chose to take it.”
They were airlifted to the next hospital, where Hauser gave birth to Zev, who cried despite not having fully formed lungs. “No one expected him to be alive, and no one expected him to even have air to push out to cry,” Hauser said. “He stunned the whole room.”
Seeing their son come into the world motivated Hauser and her husband to continue treatment. But they reached a similar crossroads around two weeks postpartum when his condition worsened while on life support. The doctors told them they could try medication in a last-ditch effort to save his lung function but even if Zev survived, it was highly likely he would never be able to walk, breathe, or eat on his own.
Faced with another life or death decision, Hauser said she was desperate for hope in one of her darkest moments. As the doctor left the room to give the family time to process the news, Hauser asked, “Can you tell me what's good?”
The doctor said, “I’ve never seen a baby with this much vitality. He’s dying, but he’s fighting.”
For five months, Hauser and her husband kept fighting alongside their son in the NICU. Over the years, he suffered brain bleeds, lung collapses, and massive strokes, among other setbacks, but he continued to persevere against all odds. Today, Zev uses an inhaler twice a day to treat chronic lung disease and wears glasses to treat retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disease common in babies who are born premature. But overall, he’s an active, healthy kid growing up with his three brothers.
Through it all, Hauser continued to focus on the same question she asked the doctor in an attempt to shift the narrative and amplify positive outcomes for families with babies born premature. She also started a podcast titled, “Published: Mar 04, 2024 3:02 PM EST,” to share their journey and goals in starting 4those.
“We're building a world for the people in our situation who are told, my kid will never, never, never, and if they never, never, never, they can still come to [4those] and have a full, beautiful, wonderful life,” she said.
For about 48 hours, Hauser ran while fundraising Running Shoes & Gear inspired by the strength of their son. Heading into the run, she knew there would be tough moments, especially since her longest run prior was 50 miles, but Hauser was ready to embrace the ebbs and flows by focusing on hope, just as she had done in the NICU with Zev.
From Saturday, September 9, to the late hours of Sunday, September 10, Hauser covered 147 miles with the support of friends who took turns pacing and a community that set up aid stations along the route. Many of the friends who came out also rallied around the family while Zev was in the NICU.
The trek was far from easy. For many miles, Hauser battled scorching 90-degree temperatures followed by a downpour in the later sections. She also struggled with an inflamed Achilles tendon around the 70-mile mark and a much-needed but unplanned rest period on Saturday night. Through it all, she navigated the challenge by focusing on being present and grateful for the community that showed up for them.
Around 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning, Hauser finished at their home, conquering another feat that demonstrated the power of believing in a positive outcome. In the process, she also obliterated her $5,000 fundraising goal with concerning $50,000 donated to 4those.
“There’s a narrative that says extreme prematurity is going to take from you, but let’s change the narrative to say, there’s not less for you at the end of this road, there’s only more,” she said. “That was the same with the run. There’s not less for you when things don’t go as planned. There’s more.”
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
