Come to aid our superhero Kenneth!!

Sometimes even a superhero needs a little mending.  Such is the story of my son Kenneth, who has cerebral palsy.  Since birth he has faced some really long odds and made it through it all with God’s help, and has done it in the most graceful and joyous manner, always with a smile on his face.  We are now in a life defining battle to keep him walking as his cerebral palsy has made it necessary to have a surgery, on September 1st, to realign his lower extremities.  It is a very complex surgery lasting 8 to 10 hours followed by a year of intensive physical therapy.  This procedure is very expensive but we have no choice if we want to keep Kenneth's mobility and avoid being confined to a wheel chair for the rest of his life.  
We live in the Dallas area, but the procedure and intensive physical therapy will take place in St. Paul Minnesota.  We need your help to bridge the gap on what we are not able to cover for the surgery, physical therapy and travel expenses.  Please come to the rescue of this awesome superhero!!!
And so the story begins...
When Kenneth was 3 months old he was not reaching his developmental goals.  We told his pediatrician who after several tests informed us he had cerebral palsy.  We were crushed, scared and did not know anything about this new world we had suddenly been thrusted into. Cerebral Palsy seemed like something you hear about from someone else, but not have to deal with yourself.  After going to a neurologist the news got even worse as the prognosis for Kenneth was as follows:  he will not be able to speak, not be able to walk and be developmentally delayed…again not what we had expected.

Flash forward 13 years...
By the grace of God, Kenneth is a very funny, caring and smart young boy who walks assisted by his trusty super crutches and can talk your ear off if you let him. 


He has beaten the odds so many times!!!  He is now growing into adolescence and while it is a joy to see, his legs have not reacted well to that.  The muscles on his legs have become so tight they now have deformed the bones in his legs due to the constant tension.  He, currently, finds it more and more difficult to walk and is crouching more and more during walking.  The doctors have told us that untreated he would continue to crouch lower as he grows heavier to the point of being left on a wheelchair forever.

 The answer is he now needs a complex surgical procedure which usually also means very expensive.  The surgery consist of two orthopedic surgeon teams (one for each leg) operating for around 10 hours to rebuild his hips, knees, ankles and feet to straighten out his legs.  The Gillete Children's Hospital in Minnesota specializes in performing this procedure which means it is not only the expenses of the surgery itself but all the travel and lodging as we go back and forth with long stays at a time.

Please help us give Kenneth, our superhero, a fighting chance to keep his ability to walk.  He is a true fighter and approaches life with such joy and desire to try his best at many things.  Thank you for allyour help and God bless.



The Ruiz Family