When doctors told Mindy Gallant her unborn child had spina bifida, she was filled with anxiousness and uncertainty.

“I didn’t want to believe it,” Gallant said.

She was unsure if she would ever see her baby girl, Jenna, walk, play or dance like other children.

But when Dance Marathon kicks off Saturday morning, Gallant said she knows her outgoing daughter, now three years old, won’t be held back. She’ll be spinning and dancing in her wheelchair, surrounded by a loving, supportive community of University students and local families.

“At Dance Marathon, we never have anyone come up and ask us what’s wrong with Jenna,” she said. “They just take her as she is.”

Spina bifida is incomplete development of the brain, spinal cord and meninges, or tissues covering the spine.

It is the most common neural tube birth defect in the United States, affecting approximately 2,000 babies in the United States each year, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website.

No child with spina bifida is the same and no child should be defined by it, Gallant said. She doesn’t want people to look at Jenna and see her disability, but instead a “cute little kid with an outgoing personality,” like the dancers do.

“We never allow her disability to control her,” she said. “She knows she’s in a wheelchair, but it isn’t difficult for her to go up to talk to someone and be proud of who she is.”

Shortly after her birth, Jenna was chosen to be a Dance Marathon miracle child. Miracle children are chosen from Mercy Children’s Hospital in Toledo to represent all the children who benefit from funds generated by the philanthropy.

“I still remember her first Dance Marathon in 2009 — she was wearing her hot pink hip huggers, and at that time could only army crawl on the floor,” Gallant said. “Now she’s learning to walk with braces and a walker. She has the heart and dedication to do her best.”

Miracle families create a community that provides an outlet many families need for information and emotional support, Gallant said.

“Coming into this, we knew one other family,” she said. “Now we talk to quite a few of them. It’s so neat to talk to other families in the family room and see the challenges that they have to face.”

Senior Kristen Romeo, Dance Marathon’s family relations chair, interacts with the miracle families on a weekly basis.

“It’s been really eye-opening hearing their experiences and what they’re going through,” she said. “The kids are so strong and brave, and I really value the one-on-one time we get.”

Kristi Frederick, coordinator of the Children’s Miracle Network at Mercy Children’s Hospital, recruits miracle families each year for Dance Marathon.

Seeing the families bond is a unique, moving experience, she said.

“At the last Dance Marathon, I introduced two families, whose daughters immediately bonded while playing Wii together,” Frederick said. “It makes me feel so good that I can make an imprint on their lives.”

Miracle families are the heart of Dance Marathon, and by volunteering their time, give more than any monetary donation, she said.

“When they tell their stories, they really inspire the students to stay on their feet for their 32 hours of dancing,” Frederick said. “Until they have their first Dance Marathon they don’t know what to expect, but then they just want more and more. They’re in it for life.”

The Gallant family is no exception; they now attend Dance Marathon annually as a miracle family.

Jenna and her 7-year-old brother, Jacob, have been anticipating the event for weeks and can’t wait to start dancing again, Gallant said.

“It’s so assuring to see the same faces each year,” she said. “It’s not a onetime thing. When you see the families and connect with them, you want to just keep coming back over and over again. We’re all a family.”