Fiedler runs for son in marathon

By Lauren Radomski (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, May 17, 2008

In some respects, Cole Fiedler is like any other 10-year-old. He loves the Minnesota Twins, knows the ending of every Harry Potter book and is well-liked by fellow fourth graders at Rothsay School.

Yet Cole also lives with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a motor neuron disease affecting muscle movement. Cole has the most severe form of the genetic condition, known as Werdnig-Hoffmann Disease, and has been on a ventilator since he was five weeks old.

Today, Rick Fiedler will honor his son and raise awareness of SMA as he runs the Fargo Marathon. In preparing for the race, Fiedler has not only completed a long-time goal, but raised more than $1,000 for a cause near and dear to his family.

Fiedler and his wife, Dori, say they remember years when they’d make five to six trips to Fargo annually, sometimes staying two or three weeks as Cole was hospitalized. Cole’s health has steadied in the last year, they say, but SMA has left him without the ability to walk or even talk.

“That’s probably the hardest part, the communication,” Dori Fiedler said, “but he does very well answering with his eyes.”

It was with his eyes that Cole communicated his interest in baseball one night several years ago during a Twins game.

“We used to rock him and watch TV at night and it caught his eye,” Dori Fiedler said.

“When he likes something, he’ll just focus on it,” her husband added.

Cole may love watching the Twins but he also enjoys the time he spends at Rothsay School. Cole’s respiratory system limits when he can go outside, his mother said, but when the weather’s decent, Cole joins other fourth graders in a Rothsay classroom for about three hours a day.

“More than anything it’s just social interaction,” Dori Fiedler said, “and his friends are so good to him.”

So is his family, which includes two brothers and a sister, ranging in age from 6 to 16. Cole is also cared for by a team of eight nursing staff — and baseball enthusiasts, coincidentally.

“If they weren’t Twins fans before they are now,” Dori Fiedler said.

Rick Fiedler, chief deputy with the Wilkin County Sheriff’s Department, ran track and cross country in high school and completed a fitness requirement in law enforcement training.

Granted, that training took place in 1987.

“That’s about the last time I ran,” Fiedler said. “I said last year, when I turned 40, ‘I’m going to run a marathon.’ It’s always been in the back of my mind.”

As Fiedler has trained for Fargo, he and Dori have collected donations from family and friends to benefit SMA research. They’ve also sold T-shirts, and one friend suggested Fiedler collect signatures on his running shirt for $5 apiece.

“It will be fun to send the check in,” Dori Fiedler said, estimating the family has raised over $1,000.

The Fiedler family is up in Fargo today to cheer not only Rick, but Rick’s sister, brother-in-law and one of Cole’s nurses — all inspired to run the race, too.