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BOUNTIFUL — Heather Woody is raising three boys with varying degrees of autism spectrum disorders. Basketball is the one thing that helps calm them down.
“It’s not uncommon for them to have really intense tantrums that just keep going for not just 15, 20 minutes, sometimes hours at a time, especially for Zack,” Woody said. “He can come out and shoot hoops and then come back and he’s OK.”
Her boys — Bryce, 16; Zack, 14; and Caleb, 10 — all share a love for that same pastime.
"It's just so fitting … and I just love it so much,” said Zack, who plays for Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy.
Woody discovered early that playing ball helped her boys work off extra energy they have.
“It started out when Bryce was about 18 months old,” she said. “We got a hoop, just a little tiny hoop, and he would spend hours playing basketball.”
It's not uncommon for (the boys) to have really intense tantrums that just keep going for not just 15, 20 minutes, sometimes hours at a time — especially for Zack. He can come out and shoot hoops and then come back and he's OK.
–Heather Woody, Bountiful mother
Eight months ago, the Bountiful family's basketball hoop was removed due to wear and tear. Woody needed to replace it, but money was tight.
“Zack will disappear because he wants to find a hoop to play,” she said.
On Tuesday, some elves from her neighborhood and Utah-based Lifetime Products came in to deliver a major Christmas surprise: a brand new basketball hoop.
“That’s amazing, absolutely amazing,” Woody said when she saw the hoop.
It meant everything to the family. The sounds, the sights of the sport were suddenly back.
"(It) seems like we just became lucky winners,” Zack said.
The donation was organized by some anonymous friends of the family who know that basketball means a whole lot.
We were anxious to reach out and support a family here in the community any way that we can.
–Richard Hendrickson, Lifetime Products
"As a mom with kids with disabilities, you always hope that they'll be accepted — and not only have these donors accepted my kids, they love my kids,” Woody said.
Those secret Santas reached out to Lifetime, a Utah company that got its start by building basketball hoops.
"We were anxious to reach out and support a family here in the community any way that we can,” said Richard Hendrickson, president of Lifetime Products.
It's already working.
“I honestly have no words for this,” Caleb said.
"Without me having any idea, they went about getting this taken care of for me,” Woody said. “(It) definitely is a blessing to have them in my life.”
