Teaming Up for the NICU
Not every race is just a race. Sometimes it means so much more. This summer, Michael Magri Overend raced in the Jones Beach Ironman – a grueling competition consisting of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride, and a 13.1-mile run, totaling 70.3 miles. He used his strength, endurance and grit to fundraise for the most vulnerable newborns, those in the Greenwich Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
“Somehow I managed to cross the line in 5 hours and 55 minutes! What truly kept me going was knowing I was racing for the NICU,” he says of his achievement. It was also personal, for his own baby, who had been a NICU patient before going home. “It was that thought, and the deep gratitude I carry.”
Following the race, Michael and his wife, Sarah, visited Greenwich Hospital to present a fundraising check for $4,000, to be used for NICU upgrades. The couple waved gratefully at the nurses on duty and peeked into the Labor and Delivery room where they met their firstborn. Heading into the NICU with Dr. Shruti Gupta, medical director of Greenwich Hospital’s NICU, the couple recalled the care they received. “We feel very lucky. She really is a beautiful, healthy baby,” says Michael, “and we’ll never forget the care you and your team gave her at the very start.”
About the NICU Medical Director
As the medical director of Greenwich Hospital’s NICU, a neonatologist at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Shruti Gupta has a profound impact on countless newborns, families, and medical students. Her passion for helping our most fragile patients extends far beyond the NICU. In addition to Dr. Gupta’s work in neonatology, she specializes in breastfeeding medicine, with a focus on mothers of preterm babies. Also, her research spurred the creation of a novel follow-up care program for families when they transition from NICU to home. She has garnered numerous honors, most recently the Yale Department of Pediatrics ACE Award.
Support the NICU
Plans are in process to renovate the Greenwich Hospital NICU and Labor and Delivery units. The upgrades will prioritize family-centered care for newborns in need of intensive care and transition the unit to all private rooms. The revitalized space will provide a healing environment in which parents can stay around the clock with their newborns in the hospital.
Donate: Help NICU babies at Michael and Sarah’s Go Fund Me page.
Celebrate: See a video of Dr. Gupta, the Benefit for Greenwich Hospital 2024 Physician Honoree:
Help: Support the NICU at Greenwich Hospital: contact Noël Appel, Senior Vice President & Chief Development Officer, noel.appel@greenwichhospital.org or 203-863-3861.