Bentley's Steps

Linda: Hi everybody. My name is Linda and this is Bentley. Bentley is eight years old. He was born at 29 weeks. His first two months of his life, he lived in the NICU. For the first year of his life, Bentley did not hit milestones. He could not hold his bottle. He could not roll over. He could not sit up. We kept asking why, and doctors after doctors kept telling us, "He is premature He will catch up. Do no worry about a single thing. Nothing is wrong." We put him in therapy to try to give him that little extra help, and we still saw nothing, no improvements. So my mom instincts told me to find answers. I took him to neurologists. Right before Bentley turned two, they diagnosed him with cerebral palsy. All those doctors who kept telling me "Your son is fine. There is nothing wrong. He is completely normal." They were all wrong. We found Shriners right after that diagnosis.

Shriners has completely changed his life. They complete changed our life. They have helped him physically. They have helped him mentally. When he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, our neurologist told us, "Your son is never going to be normal." He is not going to be able to stand up. He is going to be able to walk.

Bentley: Proved that wrong!

Linda: They told us he would never be able to hold a conversation like a normal person. This pickle throws stats for every sport. His memory? Oh my God, I can not even. So those doctors who gave us no hope? Shriners, they gave us hope. They taught us there is a will, there is a way, and to not give up. He is trying to walk. He is learning how to walk. That would not be possible without Shriners, and Shriners would not be who they are without all of the amazing people like all of you and all of the amazing donors who do what they do to raise money for the most amazing organization that is out there. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, because we are forever grateful for you. And just like Shriners is our family and our home away from home, you guys are all our family as well.

Speaker 3: Thank you [inaudible 00:03:56] Bentley.

Speaker 4: Come on, buddy. You got it.