Published: July 04, 2008 02:46 pm         

Benefit to help teen who needs transplant

DANVILLE — One family’s first trip to Disney World began more like a scene from a movie than a dream come true.

Jennie Starkey, her 13-year-old son, Cody, and her 10-year-old triplets, Noah, Tyler and Logan, waited June 26 with Jennie’s parents, Cliff and Linda Hegg, for the limousine that would take them and their gear to the Bloomington airport. Getting everyone and everything ready for the 3 a.m. pick-up had been an adventure in itself.

When the limo hadn’t arrived by 3:10 a.m., Jennie called the company. She learned a scheduling error had put the family down for 3 p.m. that day instead of 12 hours earlier.

They needed to leave immediately to make their flight. The adults quickly decided to take their own cars so everything would fit and rendezvous with the limo on Champaign’s Cunningham Avenue.

That’s when the similarity to a movie struck Jennie.

“It felt like ‘Home Alone,’” she said. “Did we have all the bags? More important, did we have all the kids?”

Linda Bolton, North Ridge Middle School guidance counselor, nominated Cody to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Because the foundation granted his wish and sponsored the trip, the rest of the family’s seven days and six nights trip was just like in a Disney movie — a dream come true.

They visited all the parks, rode the rides, swam and stayed at a resort called Give Kids the World. Special gifts waited there for the children each night, including Christmas presents at a celebration complete with Santa Claus.

Also courtesy of Make-A-Wish, the family had passes that allowed them to go to the front of any lines in the parks.

“At first, we said we didn’t need them,” Jennie said. “But when it got really hot, we had to use them. We have to watch Cody because he gets dehydrated fast.”

The North Ridge eighth-grader was diagnosed in May 2007 with chronic kidney disease. Pediatrician Dr. Jane Striegel of Carle Clinic Urbana reached that conclusion after blood tests and a sonogram showed the active child’s kidneys had stopped growing. In fact, the organs were only functioning at 17 percent of their capacity.

More tests and a referral to Barnes-Jewish St. Louis Children’s Hospital followed. Cody and his family learned there that a kidney transplant would be needed in the near future.

To prepare for that eventuality, and to help the family pay for his doctor bills, medication and his regular trips to St. Louis, family and friends plan a benefit for Cody from 9a.m.-midnight July 12 at Turtle Run Golf Course.

“In the beginning, it kind of upset me,” Cody said. “Now I’m kind of used to it.”

Cody now requires eight pills a day and weekly injections Jennie administers, plus regular trips to St. Louis to monitor Cody’s condition.

“We were both crying the first time I gave him the shot,” his mom said. “It’s fine now.”

At this point, Cody lives a normal, young teenager’s life. He gets along with his brothers (most of the time), earns good grades in school, plays in his school band and with the drum line Knightfire. He’s good at impersonations, too, much like Cliff and Linda’s son, Danville police officer Cliff Hegg.

“I ask myself, ‘How did I get a son like my brother?’” Jennie said.

But his family sees a different side of him.

“He tires easily,” Linda Hegg said. “He bruises easily, too.”

Cody’s diet is restricted. He can’t have salt and he’s limited to one serving of milk products a day, a limit he exceeded at Disney World when ice cream was available as early as 7:30 a.m.

Cody, his mother and his brothers live with the Heggs. Cody’s dad, Brandon Starkey, also lives in Danville. Both he and Jennie will undergo tests to see if they are compatible donors for their oldest son’s future kidney transplant.

FYI

The Cody Starkey Benefit will be 9 a.m.-midnight July 12 at Turtle Run Golf & Banquet Center. The event will feature a $1 million hole-in-one, golf scramble, horseshoe tournament and volleyball tournament. All require a pre-registration fee. Bracelets for all day swimming and/or carnival games will be sold, door prizes and auctions will be held and entertainment will be provided.

For information on the golf portion of the fundraiser, contact A.J. Shannon at 442-8876. To learn more about the rest of the benefit, call Brooke Smith at 474-0406 or Angela Fruits at (765) 585-3014.