Patty Laatsch, a 48-year-old woman is on a coast-to-coast trek with her 27-year-old daughter, Robin Grapa. Nine years before, Grapa was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a disease in which bone marrow stops making healthy blood cells but last year she learned that she was in complete remission.



In order to celebrate Grapa’s good health and clue people about the bone marrow disease both of them are on their ‘trek’ since February. They have raised nearly $100,000 for research into the little-known disease, which affects about 30,000 people in the United States.



Their course follows the southern route of the American Discovery Trail, the only non-motorized recreational trail that runs coast to coast. The pair set out from Delaware’s Cape Henlopen and aims to reach Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco, Calif. by November.



They have kept their husbands back at home to pay off their bills, exclaimed Grapa. She plans to take the next few months out on the trail one day at a time - much as she takes her life since learning her body beat what could have been a fatal illness. ‘I’m lucky to be here ... to survive this and to be so healthy,‘ Grapa said. ‘I’ve always wanted to do something really huge.’

That something huge is her coast-to-coast adventure. For Laatsch, the journey is not only about sharing the open road with her daughter but a special bond that she shares with her.



Image: Outdoorbeyond



Via: Gjsentinel