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I believe faith and attitude are EVERYTHING! I want to share my story so people who feel alone or discouraged might feel, well, less alone and more confident! I am an extreme snow skier, a mountain climber, a boater, a hunter, a fisherman. I love cars and boats and photography and doing anything active.
And I LOVE being in nature — I feel closer to God there. It allows me to escape my challenges and lets me feel normal and happy!
Because looking at me you might not suspect there’s anything different about me physically. But I have something called VATER syndrome (it’s also known as VACTERL). I almost died when I was born. By the age of three, I had spent more than 250 days in the hospital because of VATER. I will always have to deal with it.
Why?
I want to tell kids who have dyslexia or other learning differences to never give up!
Why?
I want to tell kids with VATER or other life-threatening diseases to never give up!
Why?
I want to tell the parents and families of these kids to never give up!
More About Me
My family is from Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. When I was born, I looked normal. Then doctors found out my trachea (breathing tube) and esophagus (feeding tube) were botched up. In fact, all my “plumbing” was botched, all the way to the bottom.
The count so far is 16 surgeries, and only God knows what fun and games are going to be next!