[DrWJODonnell]

I hate hearing about bad news happening to good friends. I don't even know that I should be writing this, but Ryan asked me to "update the PE family" and so I want to do so at his request.

First off, you all probably know Ryan Pettit. If you don't, you should. He was a cat 5 phenom on the ProPedals team who quickly made his way through the ranks, dominating every sprint finish there was before becoming a Cat 2 and moving over to HeartHouse, immediately after which he won the NJ State RR championship. But this is not about his racing. This is about his life.

Many of you read about Pettit's crazy workouts where he would have his wife flog him with a whistle for minutes at a time (trust me, more brutal than it sounds). But he would not only include his wife, but his entire family. He would go for rides with the child trailer acting as a parachute, and he would drag his little girl, Brionna, everywhere behind him. He got strong, she had fun. A family guy.

More recently, he and his wife were blessed with a second child, Mikayla, and Ryan, awesome bike racer that he is, continued to be a great family man and loved his second child as much as the first. They were a happy family.

I say were because recently some things happened. I won't go through it all, but I will paste Ryan's own facebook entries here.

Long story short, she basically died this morning. Heart was dead, no pulse, no breathing. Everything dead except her brain, and she didn't give up. They ended up having to do an emergency open heart procedure. She is right now in the helicopter on her way back down to Dupont hospital with her cardiac team, who flew up here to stabalize her and be with her in the air.

Then later

When I grow up, I wish I could have half the courage and strength as my 6 year old! She is still fighting, (*censored*)(*censored*)(*censored*)(*censored*)in g hard too, no quit in that little one. The next 24 hours are critical, unfortunately we won't really know anything until the morning, at best.

Last night was a decent night I suppose. Both her pupils were responsive, she was trying to mover her arms, etc... Her heart is fine, the scare now is because of what happened yesterday, whether any of the other vital organs were affected, like her brain. So now we wait

I can't imagine what he and his family were going through, and even now I cannot, but continuing...

RIP Brionna Leigh Pettit... I thank you so much for saving my life, and I am so sorry I couldn't do the same for you. Your Mommy and Daddy LOVE YOU more than anyone could possibly understand, and we will forever be in your debt. I saw the man I wanted to be, in your eyes. I love you so much.

Daddy

I don't have much else to say, but will include just a few more quotes.

Thank you all, so much. I really need to clear up that she is technically not dead yet. We had them do an operation to remove some of the fluid from around her brain. This would buy her some more time to keep fighting, so family and friends could get here to say goodbye. Right now, it's up to her when she wants to go, and my little girl will not go quietly, that much I can promise. She is back there fighting, but at best, with all the surgeries available, she could live to maybe move her eyes. That's not my baby, and I will not let her do that. I'm gutted, can't describe the feeling. All of you with kids, just please go give them a kiss, and tell them you love them.

Courage and tenacity have been redefined for me by my 6 year old baby girl. She continues to fight, because she knows that the longer she can hold on, the healthier her organs will be and the more lives she will be able to save. It will be today, there is no doubt. Brionna's last gift to her father, fighting scratching clawing and battling for every second. Couldn't be any prouder.

Just said goodbye to the bravest person I know. Life will never be the same, but she lives on in all who knew her.... Especially her baby sister. Brionna worshipped Mikayla, now it's our job to make sure she grows up remembering her.

RIP Brionna Leigh Pettit 9/15/03 - 10/2/09