Looking Out for the Good: 11-year-old boy stumbles upon Tabernacle Choir practice
Oct 11, 2024, 2:19 PM | Updated: Oct 14, 2024, 1:07 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah mom shared the unforgettable birthday gift granted to her son with special needs. This is Champion, 11. He’s non-verbal but responds to music. In fact, Champion is a big fan of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
“When I was about 36 weeks (pregnant), he stopped moving,” Morgan Casey said about her son Champion. “We went to the hospital, emergency C-section.”
Doctors diagnosed him with DiGeorge syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
“They told us he was brain dead,” Casey said. “We had to consider his quality of life and that it would probably be in his best interest to just take him home and let him die.”
But there were signs of hope.
When he was just 26-days-old, doctors performed his first open-heart surgery. During his recovery, he responded to music, specifically the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s music.
“We would play that choir almost constantly because it welcomed the spirit,” Casey said.“In the Battle Hymn Republic, we noticed the trend the day after his heart surgery his heart rate would go up when the crescendo would start to happen.”
She posted a video about it on social media.
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She surprised Champion with a trip to the Conference Center to hear the choir practice, but when they got there, they discovered it was closed to the public. But Casey said some “angels” opened a door for her brother – and the family “snuck in.”
She doesn’t know who helped but Casey said it was a man with long dreadlocks.
“As soon as the choir started singing, that’s when he just bum-shuffled all the way down the stairs,” she said. She said it meant everything.
“Every birthday we’re able to have (with) Champion … it’s an incredible gift,” she said.
It’s been a tough year for Champion. He suffers from epilepsy, and in April, his family almost lost him. So Casey said checking this off her bucket list was a blessing.
She said currently, he is doing a little better. Neurologists are trying to find the right dosage of his medication so he will feel more comfortable.