Wilton Re CIO Goes the Distance to Help Children with Genetic Disease

In 2009 Andy Wood, CIO, Wilton Re learned that a young cousin of his wife's had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), inherited from his mother. He later discovered that his own children are in the clear -- or at least under no greater threat than the general public -- but he was so moved by his young relative's plight that he committed to run the ING New York City Marathon, on Nov. 6, to raise funds for research to find a cure.

Andy Wood

This commitment would be admirable in a compulsive runner eager to contribute his or her abilities to a good cause. It's even more inspiring in this case given that Andy, while a reasonably fit guy, has never been a long distance runner and has taken on a serious program of preparation. Andy will be a member of the Run For Our Sons Team, dedicating his efforts to his wife's cousin Mark Vercide, Mark's family and all the other boys and their families affected by DMD. He vows to go the distance, saying that only injury can stop him.

What motivates a very busy man to make such a commitment? I strongly encourage you to visit Andy's web page, but here's an excerpt that gives insight into his motivation:

Mark was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in 2009. On a family trip to the Philippines, we knew something was not right with Mark and, in the next few days, we received the preliminary diagnosis. We were all shocked and soon realized that two other boys, my wife's uncles, had died of this condition prior to Duchenne being discovered. We found out that Duchenne is hereditary in my wife's family. Basically, the boy inherits his single X chromosome from one of his mother's two X chromosomes and, if he gets the mutated one, then he will develop Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, so it is a 50/50 chance.

You can imagine how we all felt that day, looking at this young boy with such a bleak future, playing with my 3-year old daughter and our own son who was only 1 year old. It was at that moment the penny dropped for me; my son, Joshua, had the same odds, 50/50. It took us almost a year but, in September 2010, in-depth tests confirmed that my wife did not have the mutated chromosome and, therefore, my children were not at risk of inheriting the disease and now have the same general population risk of 1 in 3,500. This was an overwhelming relief for our family and, of course, for all our relatives and close friends.

However, Mark is now 11; this disease has, over time, robbed him of his ability to walk and, in just a few years more, muscle degeneration will affect his heart and lungs and he will neither be able to move his lower body nor breathe independently. Ultimately, we will lose Mark and many other boys at so early an age unless a cure is found - and soon.

I'll add that Andy was reluctant that I write about his endeavor, given that there are probably several other insurance executives running for causes. He relented in the hope that the people he's running for might benefit from this article. For my part, I'd be only too happy to hear from other execs who are subjecting themselves to the rigors of a marathon in order to help others. Share your stories, and I'll gladly link to your causes.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio