Turner's Heroes had an amazing first event at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital Thursday, July 18. We were able to spend two hours with patients and their families designing capes and being together. The time with the patients truly showed everyone involved with Turner's Heroes how brave and courageous these kids really were. They proved why they are heroes to us and why they were heroes to Turner when he was going through what many of them currently are going through. Patients and their siblings were able to create their own capes and we got to see some amazing designs!
We designed about 75 capes during our visit! The highlight of the event, for me, was a conversation I had with a mother of one of the patients. We were discussing how important it was to have a means of escape from reality, even if just for an hour or so. She said that they had been in the hospital for weeks, and our event was one of the only times that her daughter had been her normal, laughing, smiling self. I think that goes to show how therapeutic our events can be for patients and their families. It is not just being able to design your own capes, but also just the ability to just enjoy yourself and be a kid! We want to bring fun to these patients, in whatever form that may be! That conversation, among others, made the work leading up to the event worth it ten times over. It was everything I could ever have imagined.
The plan going forward is to do one of these events every month and slowly expand into other children's hospitals. I want to thank everyone who has interacted, followed, donated, and supported us thus far. None of this would be possible without you! You are heroes to these patients and to me. Thank you for your continued support, so we can continue these events and work towards funding Discovery Grants.
Finally, Turner I hope we made you proud. I know that you would have loved to be there, but I hope this event and this process has shown how much you meant to so many different people. We miss you buddy and we always will. #TeamTurner
Cody Markel
Founder and Executive Director
Turner's Heroes