“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
-Lao Tzu
More than 30 patients joined Dr. Uday Jani’s family and staff on a crisp fall day to take their first steps toward a healthier autumn together. Dr. Jani’s vision to celebrate Shore View Personal Medical Care’s third anniversary by teaming up with patients to walk for a worthy cause came into clear focus at the Harry K Foundation 5k on Oct. 1. The effort was a runaway success by any measure, with the Shore View team winning awards for largest team and most money collected, and inspiring casual strollers and even non-walkers to lace up their gym shoes and start moving.
For patient Sharon McLaughlin Baker, signing up for her first 5k was an exciting challenge, and she was motivated by Dr. Jani’s outreach to patients. The most rewarding part: finishing. “I took it step by step and was pumped up for days afterward because I was able to do that.” Louis Gadellis, who also walked his first 5k that day, felt that “if Dr. Jani was doing this, I wanted to go for it. It felt awesome to finish, doing that long a distance was a real challenge.” Theresa Warrington considered it a good reason to round up her family for a good cause. “My son and my niece came and we had a lot of fun.”
Solomon Kurnash, a patient of Dr. Jani’s for 14 years, called a “5k walk on a beautiful day” its own reward, while patient Elisa Rupert said championing Dr. Jani’s cause was important to her. “He’s been super supportive to me,” she revealed. “When I was having a rough week last spring, with both my husband and son needing care at the hospital, Dr. Jani drove up to the hospital to wait with me. I didn’t realize he was going to do that, but he came into the waiting room just as my husband was going into surgery. He’s a good doctor and a good person.”
For Dr. Jani, an integrative and functional medicine specialist, it confirmed his deep-seated belief that true health is about “more than mind, body and spirit. It’s about forming a community around you…singles, couples, children, everyone is part of it.”
Highlights from the day: (photos)
