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Mom and son team complete Triwaco Triathlon to tons of cheers

Family sends special message during Triwaco Triathlon
Posted at 5:32 PM, Jul 14, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-15 02:32:56-04

WACO, TX — The 11th annual Triwaco Triathlon Olympic and Spring Distance event took place Sunday at 6:30 a.m. at the Brazos River. More than 900 people participated from all around the world participated.

This year, a special family shared an important message.

Madeleine Harrison, mother of 11-year-old Keegan, is an athlete and has used outdoor activities to help spread the word about donor donations. She does that because her son had heart surgery at just 7 days old. Since then he has battled with many health problems. Then last fall, doctors moved him into palliative care.

"He's hanging in there. It's been a lot, and we've gotten a lot more time with him than we thought," said Harrison.

The family made it their mission to make sure Keegan is as happy as possible and some of that happiness comes from crossing finish lines.

On Sunday, he joined his mom in his ever first ever triathlon and the cheers for him and his mom were endless.

Harrison pulled Keegan in an inflatable kayak during the swim portion of the event, and pulled and pushed him in a special chair during the bike and sprint portion. She trained with Keegan leading up to the event so he could participate with her in the triathlon.

"The best thing for me is seeing how happy he gets when people are cheering for him on the course," said his mom.

Mom, dad and his sister wore t-shirts at the event saying "K's for Keegan" that talk about the importance of donor donations.

Harrison said she hopes their next event is in Daytona, Florida. The family wants to continue spreading the message about the importance of donor donations.