About Our Cause

Dance Marathon is the largest, student-run philanthropic event happening on college campuses around the country, and the University of North Florida is no exception. Dance Marathon at UNF is an 18 hour event in which University of North Florida students stay awake and on their feet to raise funds and awareness for Children's Miracle Network and the pediatric programs at Shands Jacksonville and Wolfson Children's Hospital. On November 20-21, dancers will spend 18 hours on their feet – dancing, playing games, and having the time of their lives, while they work to save lives! Our Miracle Children who have all been treated at either Shands Jacksonville or Wolfson Children's Hospital will join our dancers throughout the event and will inspire and motivate each dancer by sharing their experiences. The amazing miracle stories will only reinforce everyone's reason for participating in Dance Marathon and being a part of one incredible night.

The funds raised through Dance Marathon at UNF will stay local to benefit our local children – What's raised here, stays here! Children's Miracle Network funds purchase critically needed medical equipment, child life resources and educational materials for the pediatric programs at Shands Jacksonville and Wolfson Children's Hospital.

Christmas Eve night in 2007 the Wells family all gathered to open gifts. After supper was over some of the kids went for a ride on 4-wheelers. Soon after, news of an accident reached Pollie, Buddy's mother. Pollie and her husband, Darrel, soon discovered that their son had been thrown from a 4-wheeler and was in critical condition. He was airlifted to Shands Jacksonville where the doctor told the Wells that Buddy had suffered an injury to the left front side of the brain, 4 chipped vertebras in his neck, a broke collar bone, 2 broken ribs, and a punctured lung.

The pressure on his brain was rising and medication was not stopping it. The doctors explained that they were going to induce Buddy into a coma, to try and control the swelling. One of Buddy's day nurses discovered if she would keep him cool, his pressure would drop. Unfortunately, that could not help what came next. Buddy developed pneumonia in his injured lung. They inserted a tube into his chest and he needed to be rotated to keep the fluid from collecting in his chest. The problem was his brain pressure would rise every time he was moved. They had to keep him in a coma to maintain the brain pressure, but the longer he was under, the more problems he would have coming out.

On day 10, Buddy's pressure had started coming down and he was slowly taken off all the IVs. He was awake, but did not respond to anything. He had lost about 20 lbs and was not cognitive, but he was alive. It took Buddy's body nearly 6 days to fully come out of the coma. During this time he responded by moving a ball purchased by CMN for Child Life thus giving his family hope.

Buddy had spent Christmas and his birthday in Shands Jacksonville while in a coma that year. As a critical patient of the PICU, Buddy benefited from the Central Monitoring System purchased by Children's Miracle Network Funding. This $50,000 piece of equipment allowed the nurses to provide constant monitoring by having access of his medical stats at the nurses station as well as bedside. He spent the next 6 weeks at Brooks Rehabilitation. Today he is doing well.