Keoni's Story

Speaker 1:

Hi, my name's Keoni. I'm going to the Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas.

Speaker 2:

Our son, Keoni, was born with bilateral clumped feet, so we started coming here when he was about five weeks old. It was noticeable right away that his feet weren't right. They were fully formed upright, trying to learn what that meant, and learned that the Shriners Hospital could be an avenue of help. He had a big surgery when he was four. They did a muscle transfer and a tendon lengthening, and he was basically in full cast up to his hips for almost a year. We were trying to prevent surgery, but then it just seemed the surgery was inevitable, so that's when he had to be being cast and he couldn't really get around very well, so he didn't have to have a wheelchair at that time, which does impact a little preschooler, not being able to get a run, a play like all the other kids out on the playground. I mean, our goal, I think, as parents ultimately, that our children are happy and that they find a passion in life and are able to fulfill that, whatever that dream is. And I know if it wasn't for the Char Hospital, we wouldn't be seeing that for him.

He really will be able to achieve whatever he wants, and we know that he's going to reach far.

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