Our daughter’s wings helped runners fly across the finish line

When our oldest child, Cammy, was diagnosed with Rett syndrome in 2011, family, friends, and strangers rallied around us. Some of our closest friends have found special ways to bring Rett syndrome awareness and Cammy’s journey into their own lives. The Wintermute family, for example, has always kept Cammy with them while running.

We dubbed Molly Wintermute, a special person, one of Cammy’s fairy godmothers. Her husband, Pete, was always one of Cammy’s favorite people. When Cammy got a fish on her third birthday, she even named it Pete.

Molly, Pete, and their three children are all runners. As head varsity coach for the girls cross-country team at Prospect High School in Illinois, Pete has woven Cammy’s story into each of his seasons. He’s held running clinics for younger kids to raise awareness for Rett syndrome and Cammy, who passed away in December 2023.

Prospect High School runners support our daughter, Cammy, and raise awareness of Rett syndrome this year. (Courtesy of Molly Wintermute)

In March, for what would’ve been Cammy’s birthday, the Wintermute family and the rest of the Prospect running community sent us a video and photos of them united, wearing purple shirts (Rett syndrome’s color) with the Prospect High logo under our Cammy Can logo on the front and her superhero logo on the back. For the first time in school history, Prospect track athletes appeared as a unit in an identical shirt that wasn’t in their blue school colors.

The Wintermutes’ oldest child, Bobby, is now a Prospect High freshman on the cross-country team. Molly wore the Cammy Can Prospect shirt to each of his races. Before each race, she asked Cammy to help Bobby fly across the finish line. Bobby and Cammy were surely on the same page because Bobby broke a freshman record to boost him to varsity for the last couple of races.

From left, Lucy, Bobby, Molly, Ada, and Pete Wintermute supporting Cammy and our family. (Courtesy of Molly Wintermute)

My family members were present to cheer on Bobby and Pete’s team at sectionals. Molly and I had separate talks with Cammy’s spirit to guide both Prospect teams and give them wings. Both the boys and girls teams qualified for state.

How Cammy cheered on Prospect High

Last weekend was the state meet in Peoria, Illinois. My family drove over two hours to support our favorite running family. All morning I felt Cammy with us. Both Molly and I wore our Prospect Cammy shirts and did everything in our power to cheer Prospect High’s runners across the finish line safely and swiftly.

When the race began, it started to rain. I smiled, thinking Cammy had something to do with it. I knew Bobby would be unfazed by the rain. Prospect ran their hearts out against hundreds of other teenagers.

Pete’s girls team finished in fourth place. Bobby ran 3 miles in his fastest time: 15:09.7. He broke a record for freshmen and sophomores. I know he put in the work to accomplish what he did, but I’d like to believe Cammy gave him some wings to fly that quickly.

Almost immediately after the race ended, the rain stopped. Soon after, two rainbows appeared. I cried tears of joy because I knew Cammy was telling us she’d been there the whole time.

Note: Rett Syndrome News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Rett Syndrome News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Rett syndrome.