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PROVO -- During the regular football season, BYU practices are closed to the public and media, but every Thursday, the doors are opened to a special guest.
The special invitee for this last week was Braden Schroeder, a special needs boy that was shot by a 28-year old man house sitting for his grandmother. Braden's mother, Cindy, related that when she was pregnant, she "had a really strong prompting that he was going to be a special needs child."
"We've had pretty extensive genetic tests done on him," Braden's father Todd Schroeder said. "Everything has come back normal except we do know that he is an XYY chromosome, which means that he has an extra male chromosome."
Braden got to participate in BYUs practice and sign the team flag that is taken onto the field before each game. Talking to Braden, Jake Heaps said, "This is called Thursday's Hero because you really are one of our heros."
"He's been a really true blessing for our family," Todd commented. "We have four boys and we like to call our family the band of brothers. They've really taken great care of him."
