Tekulve Family Talks About March of Dimes, Baseball

PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) - Pirates great and Root Sports Pirates analyst Kent Tekulve, his son Chris, and daughter-in-law Joanne are spreading the word about the March-of-Dimes and the 2013 Walk for Babies.

"The Tekulve Family got involved with prematurity," says Kent. "Chris and Joanne's daughter Taylor was born way sooner then she should have been, and it has been a very good success story. It beat the odds for her to do as well as she did."

KDKA-AM's Larry and John talked to the Tekulve Family about their experience with the March of Dimes, and how they want to help other families that are going through this.

"We spent four and a half months in the NICU, and it definitely was up and down," says Joanne. "I would say to the parents, it's so hard to be patient with a little person that is so sick, but take each day as they come. Our outcome with Taylor was a positive one."

"You'd never have any idea that a living human could be born that small," says Chris. "When Taylor was born, she was one pound, four ounces. It was two months before we could even touch her. It's just a feeling of total helplessness."

The Tekulves were given a 40 percent chance of Taylor living, and spent months visiting and calling the hospital to find out if she was alive. Thanks to the March of Dimes, the Tekulves say that Taylor is alive today because of the research and funding they do.

"There is no manual for this," says Kent. "It really is overwhelming."

Taylor is 11-years-old today, plays sports, and is just figuring out how famous her grandfather is.

"She's starting to learn. He'll get approached by other families and little kids wanting an autograph, and our daughters question 'Why do they want his signature-  what is this?'"

The March of Dimes walk, "Ready. Set. March for Babies," on June 2 on the North Shore. Fins out more information about the 5k walk at www.marchforbabies.org.