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The Cherokee Nation team that participated in the National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome stroll in Tulsa poses for a photo.

TULSA, OKLAHOMA - A group of Cherokee Nation employees and their families braved the cold weather to walk one 3-mile lap around LaFortune Park in Tulsa in support of the National Sudden Infants Death Syndrome (SIDS) Alliance of Oklahoma.

"We were honored to have a team from the Cherokee Nation, especially since SIDS is such a scourge for Native Americans in Oklahoma," said Scott Prough, executive director of the Oklahoma SIDS Alliance. "You may not know it, but the SIDS rate for Native Americans is double their percentage of the population. Approximately 14% of SIDS deaths in Oklahoma are Native American yet Native Americans comprise only 7% of the population."

The SIDS stroll collected $4500 in donations, with $1049 coming from Cherokee Nation employees. The Oklahoma SIDS Alliance uses the money to provide support groups, memory boxes and grave markers for families who have lost their infant due to SIDS. Some of the money is also used to educate people about the dangers of SIDS. The SIDS Alliance has also started participating in a monitor program, which purchases baby monitors for pregnant mothers who have previously lost children to SIDS.

"What impressed me the most about the Cherokee Nation participants that walked was that none of them were directly touched by a SIDS death and yet they had such a big group show up in support of this event," said Margaret Reilly, SIDS family service director.

For more information on the Oklahoma SIDS Alliance please contact them by phone: 1-800-248-7437.

Related path:

* SIDS Network "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and
Other Infant Death (SIDS/OID) Information Web Site"

Related contact information:

Oklahoma SIDS Alliance 1-800-248-SIDS (7437) 24-hour support/information line Oklahoma offers a 24-hour support and information line. We now have a part-time Executive Director who answers the phone. All calls will be returned.

The Oklahoma SIDS Alliance has a monthly newsletter which provides updated information on meetings, activities, current research and family support available statewide. If you would like to receive this newsletter, please contact the 1-800 number and leave your name and mailing address.

(Source: Scott Proug, President, OK SIDS Alliance, 2/16/00)
Oklahoma SIDS Alliance, P.O. Box 12282
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73157
Phone: 1-800-248-7437 ~ FAX: 1-405-521-0064