Run For the Money
Two LSU Students and Marines Run for 24
Hours to Raise Money for Paralyzed Marine
By Cheryl Dengler
LSU Student and U.S. Marine
On March 31 at 9 a.m., two Marines attending LSU, Staff Sgt. Andrew Raymond and Sgt. Steven Rogers, will attempt to run for 24 hours around the 4.1- mile loop at the LSU lakes. They are running to raise money for a fellow Marine, Staff Sgt. Courtney “Corey” Petersen, who was recently paralyzed from the chest down in a snowmobiling accident.
“Right now [her family] is more focused on her injuries and getting her better,” Raymond said. “The monetary situation they’re going to be in when this is done – I don’t know if they have thought about it or not.”
On Feb. 3 Petersen was in a snowmobiling accident where she suffered grave, lifethreatening injuries. Her lungs collapsed, she suffered broken bones in her left shoulder and lower neck, broken ribs, broken backbone with extensive injuries to the T5 area and nearly complete damage to her spinal cord. The injuries from this tragic accident show a prognosis of permanent paralysis from the chest down.Raymond sees the future challenges ahead for Petersen and her family and cites this as a main reason to help. These requirements will include: adapting their home to meet her needs, wheelchairs, a breathing machine in the home in case she gets sick, a specially designed car with hand controls and many more requirements of which they are not yet aware.
He decided to take on the challenge of running for 24 hours as not only a way to help her and her family but to do it in a way that honors his friend’s spirit.
Marathon Marine
Peteresen has always had a passion for physical activity. Raymond describes Corey as a runner, who has completed the Marine Corps Marathon and climbed Mt. Charleston in Nevada.She joined the Marine Corps Active Reserve shortly after Sept. 11, and was sent to New Orleans for a three-year tour of duty. It was there that she joined the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP), which took her back to her home in Iowa to attend Iowa State University. Petersen was completing an internship and scheduled to graduate in May before her accident, but ISU waived the internship requirement and she will receive a B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science.
“She is real outgoing, fun to be around and has a sense of humor. [She’s] really into physical fitness, a stellar Marine and just somebody I am glad to know,” Raymond said. In addition, Corey is married to one of Raymond’s best friends, Brad Petersen, whom he frequently visits in the summer.
Soldier Support
Raymond is counting on support from the Baton Rouge and Marine Corp community in any way possible. “We are looking for monetary help; supp ort would be nice as well. While we are out there [people] can come out – it’s going to be a public event, so they can come out and show their support.”
Though his goals are set high for this fundraiser, Raymond is looking for anything he can get to help ease the mind of his friends in these troubling times. “I want to give [Corey’s husband] a check and say, ‘Here, you don’t have to worry about your financial burden in the next couple of months because we have raised money
for you.’”
Raymond says just a mention of this gesture to Corey’s husband Brad has brought emotion. “At first, he broke down crying. Then as I was explaining it he said he was overwhelmed. He really couldn’t put anything into words.”