For about 50 years, the old show tune "You'll Never Walk Alone" has been synonymous with Liverpool, England – most notably sung in unison by thousands of red-clad fans before each Liverpool F.C. home soccer match. On Sunday, that anthem will be ringing through the minds of three Liverpool natives more than 4,000 miles away from Anfield, Liverpool F.C.'s home stadium.

Since its inception in 2001, the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon has been run by many people for many different reasons. Some run, obviously, for those affected by the tragic events surrounding the Murrah Federal Building bombing in 1995. Others, though, participate for reasons not directly connected to the bombing – for hope, courage and strength, among other things. Two of the anticipated 27,000 participants in Sunday's Memorial Marathon will run for a strong little girl with ties to St. Gregory's University.

Olivia Riley, the daughter of SGU women's soccer coach and Liverpool transplant Tommy Riley, was born last July with a potentially life-threatening heart defect. Neil Hilton and Scott Parkinson, friends of Tommy and fellow Liverpudlians, will run to honor Olivia's perseverance through her first nine months of life and to raise money for the Rileys, who have endured a mound of medical expenses throughout the process.

"When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high, and don't be afraid of the dark."

Tommy remembers July 3, 2012, vividly. His wife, Kellie, had just given birth to the couple's first child. Olivia came five weeks early and was immediately taken to the intensive care unit at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City for extensive testing and observation. Three days later, Tommy and Kellie got the news no parent wants to hear – their newborn baby girl was sick.

Doctors explained that Olivia had a heart condition known as tetralogy of Fallot. The condition, which is caused by a combination of four heart defects, occurs in about five of every 10,000 babies, according to the National Institutes of Health. In infants with tetralogy of Fallot, not enough blood is able to reach the lungs to gather oxygen, which means that oxygen-poor blood flows through the body and the skin is blue-tinged.

"It hit us pretty hard," Tommy said. "We were sort of in shock. One of the first things we did was go to Barnes and Noble and read up on it. We understood that it would take an open-heart surgery to make it better, but at the same time, we were confident that she would be OK."

According to the Mayo Clinic, infants who are diagnosed early and receive appropriate treatment can live mostly normal lives, although they will need to receive regular medical care and may have exercise restrictions.

After careful consideration, the Rileys scheduled Olivia's surgery for January 8 at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. To say that was a tough day for the couple would be a gross understatement.

"Thinking back now, it was the worst day of my life," Tommy said. "You hate to be negative, but you always know in the back of your mind there's that chance… You know, they had to put her body on a heart bypass machine. That was tough to gather. The world stood still that day."

"At the end of the storm, there's a golden sky, and the sweet, silver song of a lark."

But Olivia pulled through with flying colors. Tommy credits the hospital staff with top-notch care and Olivia – who he said was strong and happy throughout the process. By the third day post-surgery, he said Olivia acted like nothing had ever happened.

"She was smiling and had tons more energy," he said. "She's our miracle baby."
 

"Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain, though your dreams be tossed and blown."

Although Tommy has health insurance, the ancillary costs of the procedure – such as he and his wife having to live away from home and pay for lodging and meals – quickly began to rise.

"I looked at a bill a couple of weeks ago," Riley said. "The surgery part, just for that, the insurance contribution was $150,000, and that's not including what I have to pay. That's not including medicine, the hospital stay, heart monitors, x-rays, anesthesia…"

Tommy said a medication which helped to boost Olivia's immune system both before and after the surgery was $500 a month just for his part. In total, he estimates that his family will have paid more than $50,000 in out-of-pocket expenses when the bills finally stop coming in.

"Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart, and you'll never walk alone. You'll never walk alone."

Tommy remembers what it feels like to be so far away from home in a foreign place. He came to the United States in 1995 to play soccer for Oklahoma City University. So when fellow Liverpool natives Hilton and Parkinson made the trek from the UK to play collegiately at Oklahoma Christian and USAO, respectively, he sort of took them under his wing.

Hilton is now an assistant soccer coach at OC, and Parkinson is a junior at USAO. They both "hang out" with Tommy, and the Rileys have hosted them for dinner on several occasions.

"I know how they feel, because I've been in their shoes," Tommy said. "It's not easy being that far away. I just wanted to give them a little feel for home…to have them over to the house and make them feel comfortable."

So when Hilton and Parkinson found out about Olivia, they naturally returned the kindness they had received from the Rileys. Tommy said he was approached by them in late February about the idea of running in the Memorial Marathon in support of Olivia and to raise funds for the family.

"We're all one big family, really," Hilton said. "Tommy and his family are really nice people and we just want to help them any way we can."

Hilton has run eight half-marathons, but never attempted to complete a full, 26.2-mile marathon. He's been training, working toward a goal of about 18 miles in one stretch. He's hopeful that, come race day, adrenaline and strong conditioning will carry him to the finish.

Parkinson has a soccer match Sunday night, but he said that wouldn't deter him from running for the Rileys. He will compete in the half marathon.

"Being from Liverpool, we just pull together and help each other out," Parkinson said. "We know it was very costly to get her healthy, and we were determined to do something to ease the burden."

Hilton and Parkinson have been asking for donations and have raised more than $5,000 to this point. As the date of the marathon draws closer, they hope that amount will continue to grow. A running tally of the donations is being kept on a website Hilton created, http://www.donationto.com/Babyolivia.

Tommy said the outpouring of support for Olivia has been incredible. On the day of her surgery, texts and social media messages came from all over the world – including the UK, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
 

"Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart, and you'll never walk alone. You'll never walk alone."

Tommy said now, at nearly 10 months old, Olivia is developmentally on track. She's mastered crawling and has her sights set on walking in the near future. He said he's seen nothing holding her back from doing what she wants.

"The kid is probably one of happiest I've been around," he said. "She wakes up happy and falls asleep happy. She doesn't have a care in world, and her energy is unbelievable. She never stops moving."

Tommy said on Sunday, he, Kellie and Olivia will be at the finish line cheering on Hilton and Parkinson – homemade signs in tow, rain or shine. And they can't help but be reminded that, rain or shine, they'll "never walk alone."