Tetherow Partners With Summit High School To Sponsor a Sparrow Child

Tetherow is proud to announce, that in partnership with Summit High School, they are sponsoring a Sparrow child. This will be the third year in a row that Tetherow has worked with a local school and the Sparrow Club.

By empowering kids to help kids, Sparrow Clubs exist to set the stage for simple, yet heroic acts of kindness in schools and youth culture by empowering kids to help kids in medical need.
Sparrow Club provides financial and emotional support for children and their families in medical need. It works by finding a “sponsor” – a company or organization willing to fund the work of the kids. That sponsor is matched with a school’s Sparrow Club and then each club is matched with a “sparrow” – a child in substantial medical need. Students then volunteer in their community to earn funds for their sparrow.

Tetherow’s sparrow is Kinsley, a 6 year old girl suffering from a brain tumor. Here’s Kinsley’s story:

It was a Monday morning in January 2014 when Kinsley was sitting in her high chair eating her morning meal, just as she had always done. It was then that her mom, Rachell, noticed something unusual. Kinsley’s left eye seemed to be moving constantly. By Thursday, when she was finally able to be seen by a doctor, the movement was worse.

A week later, a specialist sent her in for an MRI. While waiting for the results, Kinsley had developed movement in both eyes and her head began to nod. When the results came back, it was not what her parents, Kevin and Rachell, wanted to hear. Kinsley had a brain tumor.

Upon further tests, the tumor was found to be non-cancerous, but also, the tumor was located in a place where it could not be removed. Doctors decided to treat Kinsley with chemotherapy. Kinsley traveled to Portland weekly for her chemotherapy and had MRI’s every few months to determine if treatments were working. She underwent treatment for 18 months.

On July 20th 2015, Kinsley had a Debulking surgery, which means doctors removed a portion of the tumor, in hopes that chemotherapy would be more effective. Doctors successfully removed a lot of the tumor. There were side effects to the surgery though. The surgery caused Kinsley to go blind and have increased weakness on her left side.

The following month, on August 20th, Kinsley went in for surgery again to place a shunt in her brain to help relieve a build-up of fluid. The surgery was a success, until doctors saw that a major blood vessel in her tumor burst. Kinsley was rushed into emergency surgery to repair the rupture, as well as remove the blood clot.

Kinsley has now endured 6 brain surgeries and 2 port surgeries. She continues her weekly chemotherapy treatment in Portland and has started occupational and physical therapy to build strength again in her left side. She goes to horse therapy and is also learning how to walk up and down stairs with a railing at physical therapy. She is also gaining independence and strength with the help of a walker.

Although Kinsley’s life has been a difficult one, she is a beautiful and vibrant little girl who loves her family and her dog, Dixie. She also enjoys listening to stories read to her by her big brother, Bailey.
To learn more about the Sparrow Club, click here.