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CNN Live At Daybreak

Channel Challenge: Brothers Swim for Sister

Aired July 30, 2003 - 05:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Five brothers from Ohio are preparing to take on the challenge of a lifetime, a swim across the 22-mile wide English Channel.
As WLWT reporter Tony Gnau reports, their sister serves as their inspiration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY GNAU, WLWT-TV REPORTER (voice-over): A trip to the Mount Lookout Swim Club usually means fun in the sun. But while some relax, others are hard at work. Five brothers are training to swim one of the world's great waterways and we're not talking the Ohio River.

COURTNEY ROBERTS, PATTY'S BROTHER: Swim the English Channel.

MIKE ROBERTS, PATTY'S BROTHER: For swimmers, it's kind of like Mount Everest.

GNAU: The English Channel is over 20 miles long and it's not like the temperature controlled swim club.

C. ROBERTS: Not exactly.

M. ROBERTS: This is going to be 57 degrees.

GNAU: A true test of strength for any swimmer. It takes hours of training day in and day out, but the brothers know where to look for inspiration, their sister, Patty.

M. ROBERTS: She started seeing doctors as an infant and no one could really definitively diagnose exactly what it was she suffered from. She got to be about 400 pounds and she's only five feet tall when she was 35. And finally some doctor said maybe you should look at Prader-Willi Syndrome.

C. ROBERTS: It's a genetic condition. People have some mental disability and developmental delay.

M. ROBERTS: One of the primary symptoms of someone that suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome is an insatiable appetite and the worst combination of very low metabolism.

GNAU: Patty's brothers are swimming the Channel to raise awareness. Since the disorder is easily overlooked, they say thousands of people go undiagnosed. It isn't curable, but it is controllable. Patty is down to 155 pounds and her brothers hope they are up for the English Channel challenge.

ROBERTS: But I just come close. We're all doing more and getting ready for it. And we're all getting excited about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we will have the brothers live on the phone right from the English Channel next week as they begin their journey. In fact, I've talked to one of the brothers, Andy, on the phone and he's very excited to take on the challenge.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 30, 2003 - 05:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Five brothers from Ohio are preparing to take on the challenge of a lifetime, a swim across the 22-mile wide English Channel.
As WLWT reporter Tony Gnau reports, their sister serves as their inspiration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY GNAU, WLWT-TV REPORTER (voice-over): A trip to the Mount Lookout Swim Club usually means fun in the sun. But while some relax, others are hard at work. Five brothers are training to swim one of the world's great waterways and we're not talking the Ohio River.

COURTNEY ROBERTS, PATTY'S BROTHER: Swim the English Channel.

MIKE ROBERTS, PATTY'S BROTHER: For swimmers, it's kind of like Mount Everest.

GNAU: The English Channel is over 20 miles long and it's not like the temperature controlled swim club.

C. ROBERTS: Not exactly.

M. ROBERTS: This is going to be 57 degrees.

GNAU: A true test of strength for any swimmer. It takes hours of training day in and day out, but the brothers know where to look for inspiration, their sister, Patty.

M. ROBERTS: She started seeing doctors as an infant and no one could really definitively diagnose exactly what it was she suffered from. She got to be about 400 pounds and she's only five feet tall when she was 35. And finally some doctor said maybe you should look at Prader-Willi Syndrome.

C. ROBERTS: It's a genetic condition. People have some mental disability and developmental delay.

M. ROBERTS: One of the primary symptoms of someone that suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome is an insatiable appetite and the worst combination of very low metabolism.

GNAU: Patty's brothers are swimming the Channel to raise awareness. Since the disorder is easily overlooked, they say thousands of people go undiagnosed. It isn't curable, but it is controllable. Patty is down to 155 pounds and her brothers hope they are up for the English Channel challenge.

ROBERTS: But I just come close. We're all doing more and getting ready for it. And we're all getting excited about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we will have the brothers live on the phone right from the English Channel next week as they begin their journey. In fact, I've talked to one of the brothers, Andy, on the phone and he's very excited to take on the challenge.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM AT www.fdch.com