Officer to run
20 miles in
infants’ memory

Alex Garcia hopes to
raise awareness of sudden
infant death syndrome

By Rod Antone
Star-Bulletin

At 6 feet 2 inches and 225 pounds, Honolulu Detective Alex Garcia looks more like a weightlifter rather than a long-distance runner.

But come Sunday, Garcia is determined to run roughly 20 miles, a sunrise run at Ala Moana Beach that has nothing to do with fitness, but awareness.

"If they got to carry me, I'll do 20 miles," said Garcia, "because she didn't have to die."

The "she" Garcia is referring to is a 5-month-old girl who was found dead by her baby sitter earlier this month. The police report indicated no foul play.

Still, the case has touched a nerve in Garcia, who, in his 12-year career, said he has seen too many children die of "unexplained" deaths. Now Garcia wants to raise public awareness of the greatest cause of death for newborn babies.

Each lap that Garcia runs on Sunday will represent one of 20 children who he said dies from SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, every year on Oahu.

"It can be avoided," he said. "It doesn't have to happen."

While doctors admire Garcia's goal, they say overcoming SIDS is not that simple.

"The most important thing is that parents need to know that it was something that could not be prevented," said Kapiolani Medical Center pediatrician Dr. Michael Sia. "If a child died of SIDS, it was out of their control."

The American SIDS Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Georgia, defines SIDS as "the sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant, whose death remains unexplained after the performance of an adequate postmortem investigation, including an autopsy, investigation of the scene and circumstances of the death, and exploration of the medical history of the infant and family."

However, Sia does say there are "modifiable risk factors" that parents can follow to lower the SIDS factor, including:

>> Breast-feeding babies whenever possible.

>> Avoiding exposing the infant to people with respiratory infections.

>> Placing infants to sleep on their backs.

>> Placing infants to sleep on a firm mattress with no covering or only a sheet or light blanket. No stuffed animals or other items should be placed in the crib.

>> Not overclothing the infant while he/she sleeps.

>> Using home monitoring systems.

Garcia said he does not want to cast blame -- only to raise public awareness. And in doing so, he hopes the image of the 5-month-old girl who haunts him will at last be at rest.

"She was so beautiful," Garcia said. "She had the most perfect face, and I swear she looked like she was going to open her eyes at any time."