Meet Greysen
Meet Greysen
He loves sports -speed skating and soccer, playing with his friends, and pomegranates!
A LETTER FROM GREYSEN’S FAMILY
Greysen is much like any regular 11-year-old boy. He loves sports -speed skating and soccer in particular - playing with his friends, and pomegranates!
But when Greysen was just six weeks old, he got sick. Really sick. His parents brought him to their small-town hospital, expecting the doctors to say it was just a cold and send them home.
Unfortunately, it was much worse.
“They ended up rushing him to the children's hospital because his lungs were completely collapsing. And his oxygen levels were so low. And then right when he got his Children's, he had to be resuscitated several times.”
“On the way to Children's in the ambulance, the doctor jumped in with us, which I didn't think anything of. Now I know that the doctor doesn't jump in unless they don't think the patient is gonna make it. They also had me hold him on the way there which I thought was really strange. I later realized it was because they didn't think he was actually going to make it.”
Pictured: Greysen brought home four medals for speed skating at the 2023 MB Special Olympics!
Greysen was hooked up to so many machines while they tried to figure out what was going on. Doctors initially diagnosed Greysen with pneumonia and bronchiolitis, and later also respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Eventually, a specialist had to be called in because Greysen was so sick. Genetic tests eventually showed that Greysen is missing parts of chromosomes seven and eight.
He is only one of two known individuals in the entire world who is missing this particular part of the eighth chromosome, which could cause hearing loss, developmental delays, and possible physical differences. Doctors also discovered Greysen only had one working kidney and profound hearing loss.
But Greysen is a fighter. Now at 11, his hearing loss was corrected with bone-anchored hearing aids. He still has appointments doctor appointments regularly, especially around his kidney function. He's all caught up cognitively and works really hard in school.
He's strong and he takes it in stride.
Greysen has also been Dreaming BIG! Greysen has been talking about visiting the UK!- but he has also expressed interest in swimming with whale sharks! His parents know it’s a big decision, so they are letting him take his time in making up his mind.
And with your support we will be here, ready and waiting to make Greysen’s Dream a reality!
Greysen’s Dream Came True!
Dream Kid Greysen and his family had a magical time on their trip to the UK!
“How do we every say THANK YOU enough times?” Greysen’s mom says. “We truly feel like we just got carried away. Greysen’s trip was really nothing less than a Dream come true! He checked off every box he had on his list and then some! Every time someone asks what his favourite part was he says something different. I think he just keeps remembering how special every day was. One time he said to someone that he couldn’t believe when the plane landed in London and that he was actually there!
“The second full day we were in London we got to tour the Tower Bridge, the last night we were there we got to witness it open. That was pretty special for all of us, a really neat experience. I asked Greysen what he would like to say to the Dream Factory community - his words: Thank you for my amazingly wonderful trip that I enjoyed. The Tower Bridge was my favourite part, after landing!
“We all feel very special to have been able to take this trip, we cannot say thank you enough!”