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ROOSEVELT — The basketball Kaden McCormick packs around is nearly as big as he is.
The gregarious toddler is quick to smile and give a high five to the older kids who chased the ball down the handicap ramp, return it to him and then chase it again Monday night inside Roosevelt Junior High School.
"Ball! Ball!" he shouts each time, his tiny hands outstretched.
A framed photo on a nearby table shows the 22-month-old Roosevelt boy wearing a Superman costume. Unlike the Man of Steel, Kaden's weakness isn't Kryptonite. It's his kidneys.
"It's been awful, absolutely awful," says Kaden's mom, Krista McCormick.
"The worst thing is to have to hold him down while you give him a shot or while they draw blood on him," she said. "No one likes to see their kids in pain."
McCormick was still pregnant with her son when doctors discovered a blockage in his urethra. Plans were made to deliver Kaden at Primary Children's Medical Center, but he came one month early and the plan was scrapped.
At two weeks old, Kaden underwent his first surgery. It cleared the blockage, but there was bad news — he was in kidney failure. He would need constant medical care and, at some point soon, a transplant.
McCormick and her husband, Curtis, have medical insurance. Organ transplants, however, are not covered and they worried about how they would pay $250,000 for the surgery.
That's when doctors at Primary Children's introduced the couple to the Children's Organ Transplant Association. The nonprofit organization based in Bloomington, Ind., was founded in 1986 with the mission of helping families pay for transplant-related expenses.
The McCormicks contacted COTA, which provided fundraising ideas and helped set up a donation account for Kaden. The organization told the family they'd need to raise at least $100,000 to help pay for Kaden's transplant.
Monday night, nearly 150 Duchesne County residents turned out at Roosevelt Junior High School for a benefit Dutch oven dinner and auction to help raise money for Kaden's account. The event raised about $21,000 — an amount that was bolstered by a $10,000 donation from Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt.
Lunnetta Harding has spearheaded the fundraising effort on her grandson's behalf and says the community support has been humbling.
"There probably hasn't been a day since I took this on that I haven't been worried about (Kaden)," Harding said. "But there also hasn't been a day go by when someone hasn't given me their last $10 or volunteered their time.
"There's just no words to let them know how thankful we are," she said. "It's been amazing."
Curtis McCormick says the family is grateful for the money raised on Kaden's behalf. They're also pleased to know that if they raise more money than is needed, "then it will go to someone else in COTA that couldn't quite raise that much money."
Kaden is slated to receive a new kidney in early January. His father will be the donor, a decision Curtis McCormick says was easy to reach.
"For me, it's not even a question," he says, watching his son roll the basketball across the floor.
"He's my son. I'd give my life for him."
Email:gliesik@ksl.com
