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Anna’s Amazing Race a powerful reminder of what the York community can do

Team America, which consisted of Cayla Snydeman, Pat Bosso, Matt Krebs and Nick Becker took home third place and was also winner of the most spirit award Saturday (photo by April Trotter)
Team America, which consisted of Cayla Snydeman, Pat Bosso, Matt Krebs and Nick Becker took home third place and was also winner of the most spirit award Saturday (photo by April Trotter)

I broke rule No. 1 as a journalist. I got involved.

You see, we’re taught in journalism school to observe the news and report it.


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But I was never very good at that. In college, I cried while reporting my first story during Penn State’s THON.

Last year, I learned about the Becket family. York natives Kate and Xander Becket live in Carlisle with their two children, Jack and Anna. Anna is a smiley, giggly 3-year-old with bouncy blonde curls.

Kate told me Anna takes 25 pills every day to help with her digestion. She told me about the vibrating vest Anna wears for an hour each day to get things moving in her lungs. And she told me about the hour Anna spends each day doing her breathing therapy like the little trooper she is.

Shortly after she was born, Anna was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system.

“Even though Anna looks perfect, there’s a lot of things going on inside her body,” Kate told me during our interview. “Every day it’s work.”

But the Becket family is loved by a lot of people, including Robert Godfrey of Spring Garden Township, who helps plan tasks, obstacles and activities for the annual Anna’s Amazing Race.

My awesome coworkers at Anna's Amazing Race.
My awesome coworkers at Anna’s Amazing Race.
And rather than just reporting the news for the third annual race, which benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, I asked how I could help.

And then I convinced a bunch of coworkers to join me.

Read the rest of this post on SmartMagPA.com.