EAGAN, Minn. - Top athletes push themselves to be the best, but they're not the only ones making sacrifices. Families also give a lot to make dreams come true.
Ann Weggemann can tell you all about it. Her daughter Mallory Weggemann holds 33 U.S. records and 16 world records. Next up is the Paralympics in just one month.
The world will be watching and so will Ann the way she always has since Mallory started swimming at 7-years-old.
"She played soccer she played dancer, did piano lessons, but she really wanted to swim," Ann said.
Raising not one, but three daughters who all swam competitively wasn't an easy feat.
"It would be up and at the pool by 6:30, 7 for the morning session which would usually go until noon," she said.
To accommodate her girls swim and school schedules she worked third shift as a nurse. In between that she shuffled other people's children to swim meets too.
"We always had, we called, by the end of the weekend, swimming headaches," Ann joked.
Headaches would turn into heartache in January 2008. Complications from an epidural for back pain left Mallory paralyzed from the waist down, but not even paralysis could keep Mallory out of the water, not with her Mom fighting from the sidelines.
"When the hard times come through she's there as a big support as well so I don't know where I'd be," Mallory said.
For Ann, she said the best thank you a mother could get is her daughter.
"The records, the medals, the awards are incredible and I say this not making light of those, but what I'm most proud of is what she's done with her life," Ann said.
To recognize all that Olympics and Paralympics' moms like Ann have sacrificed Proctor and Gamble launched the "Thank you, mom" campaign. Each mom is given a $1,000 Visa gift card to help with travel expenses for the games.
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