An Afghanistan War veteran is running the Boston Marathon this year to give back to the hospital that saved his life as an 8-year-old boy.
Army Maj. David Frost, 34, was in third grade when doctors found a cavernous angioma on the right frontal lobe of his brain. He had emergency surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital, and was able to make a full recovery a year later.
Now 26 years later, the Maynard resident is training for the Boston Marathon and raising funds for the hospital that saved his life.
“It was a life-changing moment for me,” said Frost, who’s now in the reserves and attending MIT business school. “I’ll forever be thankful for the work they do, the care they provide, and their ability to show empathy for kids.”
Frost, who grew up in Franklin, still has memories of himself as an 8-year-old — laying on the couch in the family room as he battled excruciating headaches.
“They were these terrible splitting headaches,” he said. “To this day, I can go back to those moments.”
It was the August 1995, and he was getting ready to start third grade. Frost was coming off a great summer, playing football and enjoying all the other things that come along with being a healthy 8-year-old.
But then he started getting these horrendous headaches that forced him to miss football, stay inside and lay on the couch for hours.
Doctors at first said the headaches were caused by bad allergies. However, after weeks of pain, his pediatrician made the call to send him for MRIs. That’s when the doctors found the cavernous angioma, a benign growth that consists of small blood vessels, and he had emergency surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Frost has been symptom-free ever since the year of recovery. He went on to play sports, graduated from West Point, and served in the Army. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012.
Last year, Frost left the military and moved on to business school. But he started to feel something was missing.
“A part of me really craved the purpose I felt when I was in the military, contributing to an important cause, dedicating yourself to something and consistently working toward that,” he said.
“I was back home in Massachusetts, and thinking of different moments in my life that were impactful,” Frost added. “So I decided to run for Boston Children’s to help me fill that purpose and contribute to something important.”
Frost has a 2-year-old daughter, who recently went to Boston Children’s for a minor infection.
“Being back there, you really start to appreciate everything they do,” he said. “The care there compared to a regional hospital and how they show empathy to kids. It’s a special place.
“Having that happen during the marathon training period has been another motivator for me,” Frost said, adding that his daughter is fine after her hospital visit.
All of the funds Frost raises will go directly back to the hospital. His fundraising goal is $12,000.
To donate to his fundraising page, visit fundraise.childrenshospital.org/goto/davefrost.
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