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y
Riley
Children’s
Foundation
WRITING
RILEY’S KIDS
Carter’s Story
The Riley Kids pages are
pages devoted to kids
within or associated with
Riley Children’s Hospital.
Many of these kids have
remarkable stories, and are
remarkably talented, and
these pages are avenues
for these kids to share
their work. In the midst of
everything these kids are
facing or have experienced,
we hope we are providing
an outlet for them and
inspirational stories to you
our readers.
Riley Hospital is a
remarkable hospital
that provides hope to
kids around the world.
With a hospital here in
Indianapolis, in Kenya, and
offices spread throughout
Indiana, Riley is a first rate
organization that provides
outstanding medical care
on a loving and supportive
environment. They never
turn a child away regardless
of the family’s inability to
pay. Donations to Riley
assure they continue to
provide amazing care to
kids.
22 Inspired
On October 7 a few years ago, after
dealing with a high fever and cough
for a couple of days the Swathwood
family decided to take their 5-year-old
son Carter to the doctor. Carter was
immediately seen, given a breathing
treatment and then had a few other
tests done. Even before doing tests
on him, the doctor knew that Carter
would be admitted to the hospital
because of the severity of his case.
Carter had a lot of trouble breathing
and after testing positive for H1N1 the
doctor considered that he might have
a secondary bacterial pneumonia
infection.
“We made our way to Home Hospital
on the East side of town. Over the
next 12 hours, Carter’s condition
quickly became much worse and
we knew something more had to
be done. The doctor came to the
hospital, did his examination and
then said that the helicopter would
be there in 20 painstaking minutes
to transport him to Riley Hospital in
Indianapolis.”
The Swathwood family anxiously sped
to catch up to Carter. Carter’s mother,
Melissa describes her experience
after getting to see him for the first
time in the hospital “He was admitted
to the PICU and when we arrived we
were very surprised to see how calm
he was, as well as all the gifts he
has received. Riley has a program
called “Cheer Guild”, they provide gifts
and activities to hospitalized children.
These gifts are purchased by donations
from everyday people. By the time we got
there, which was only 20 minutes after him,
he had his very own fleece soccer blanket,
a lifelike fire truck with lights and sirens,
a ceramic pumpkin