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Wednesday, August 22,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 5A
Trailblaze event in Clayton first in state
Couple joins
inaugural hike
for Make-A-Wish
For the Dawson County News
Brett Downing, 27, and wife Haley, 30, hike the Raburn Bald portion of the BartramTrail with their dogs Ace and Mavis Jan.
26, 2018.
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
Hiking comes naturally for
some, but hiking 17 miles in a
single day is quite the challenge
even for the most seasoned hik
ers. But it’s a challenge local
residents Brett and Haley
Downing are well prepared for
as they embark on the first
Trailblaze Challenge for Make-
A-Wish Georgia next month.
“It’s one thing to say you’ve
hiked but it’s another thing to
say you’ve hiked 17 miles in
one day for a great cause,”
Brett Downing said.
This year, the Georgia chap
ter of the Make-A-Wish
Foundation has added a gruel
ing 17-mile hike challenge to
fundraising efforts to help grant
wishes to the 850 Wish Kids in
the state.
Participants will begin hiking
the Bartram Trail in Clayton at
6 a.m. Sept. 15 and aim to com
plete the hike by 5 p.m.
“The Bartram Trail is a really
difficult trail,” Brett said.
“Some sections are pretty bru
tal.”
The Downings, who live on
the border of Dawson and
Forsyth counties, know all too
well the difficulties that come
with the Bartram Trail. With
rolling hills and numerous
switchbacks, it’s a trail they
have hiked sections of but
never hiked it in its entirety.
“Hearing these stories of
these kids and their families has
truly inspired me. They are all
so brave and conquer one day
at a time, never knowing what
the next day brings,” Haley
Downing said. “The least I can
do is hike these 17.1 miles for
them because even that doesn’t
give me a taste of what it’s like
to be in their shoes.”
The challenge is even greater
for Haley, who found out five
years ago that she had lupus
along with psoriatic arthritis
and degenerative disc disease in
her back.
Although the couple began
hiking seven years ago, Haley
began to struggle after her diag
nosis and fought through her
pain to get back to doing what
she loved.
“The idea of doing something
like this would have been a
joke to me,” Haley said. “Five
years ago I would have thought
my life was over but I’m men
tally stronger now and connect
ing with Make-A-Wish has
helped me with that.”
The most the couple has
hiked in a single day was 16
miles on a less strenuous trail
than the Bartram, but the
Downings plan to push through
all the way by encouraging
each other to keep going.
Also encouraging them is the
Wish Kids they connected with
when they signed up for the
challenge. As they hike through
the rugged north Georgia ter
rain, the pair will be keeping
their sponsored kids close to
their hearts.
Brett’s Wish Kid, a little girl
with a brain tumor, wished to
meet Michelle Obama. Haley’s
Wish Kid, a nine-year-old boy
with stage three leukemia,
wished to go to Montana to see
the snow covered mountains.
“Just granting them that one
wish can make that difference,”
Brett said.
As a team, the Downings
have pledged to raise $5,000
for the Make-A-Wish
Foundation and have already
exceeded $2,600. They have
until the end of October to raise
the full $5,000.
The Trailblaze Challenge has
already reached over 60 percent
of its $100,000 goal.
“This is a great organization
and we want to try and do as
much as we can to support
these kids. They deserve at
least that much from the com
munity,” Brett said.
For more information on
Make-A-Wish Georgia and the
Trailblaze Challenge please
visit www.georgia.wish.org.
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