Walkers seek to save infants through education

    A group of nearly 100 people gathered at Sunset Park in Washington Saturday morning to raise awareness of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The participants walked around the park wearing shirts from the Iowa SIDS Foundation, which is the organization that put on the event. People also gathered in a shelter for activities such as face-painting, door prizes and an auction.

    The SIDS walk in Washington Saturday was just one of many SIDS walks held across the state of Iowa that day. The Iowa SIDS Foundation also held walks in Cedar Rapids, Chariton, Keswick, Pleasant Hill, the Quad Cities and Sioux City. The Foundation has held a ?Walk for the Future? on the fourth Saturday in August every year for the past 11 years, and in Washington for the past four years.

    Steve and Lori Byers walked in honor of their nephew who was a victim of SIDS.

    Lori said they were not alone, commenting, ?I think everyone is here because they know someone who died of SIDS.?

    Sudden Infant Death Syndrome refers to an infantile death that is both unexpected and inexplicable after an investigation. Diana Speas, who lost her fourth child to SIDS, is glad that more people have become aware of the syndrome in recent years.

    ?A lot of people know it exists, but they don?t realize how quickly it can happen,? said Speas.

    The Iowa SIDS Foundation has a number of recommendations to decrease the likelihood of SIDS. It recommends laying infants on their back to sleep until they are 1 year of age, laying them on a firm mattress, refraining from using pillows, crib bumper pads or blankets over or under the baby, and keeping their room temperature at about 65 degrees when they?re asleep. 

For hte full story, see the Aug. 30 edition of The Washington Evening Journal