CMN CHAMPION
The Next Big Adventure
Equipped with an irresistible smile , limitless curiosity and arms always open for hugs , Logan Parker was born ready for adventure . This summer , he and his family will begin the journey of a lifetime as Logan represents McLane Children ’ s Hospital as the 2017 Children ’ s Miracle Network Champion for Texas .
Logan is one of 50 champions representing children ’ s hospitals in each state and the 10 million children who are treated at Children ’ s Miracle Network Hospitals every year . Over the next year , he and his family will travel around the country to raise awareness about the need for continued philanthropy at children ’ s hospitals to fund treatments , services , equipment and charitable care .
This young adventurer is quite literally one in a million . Logan has a rare condition called Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease , or PMD , a central nervous system defect that affects mobility and speech . There are only 1,000 known cases world-wide .
Logan and his family are frequent visitors at McLane Children ’ s . Once a week , patients roaming the halls might catch a glimpse of a wheelchair with tractors on the sides or overhear a conversation in what his mother calls the dinosaur dialect as Logan participates in speech , physical and occupational therapies .
“ Logan loves it ,” Doris Parker says of her son . “ It ’ s not like we ’ re going to a hospital , it ’ s more like we ’ re going to see family . He trusts his therapists , and they make him work hard , but he never wants to quit .”
Logan ’ s condition requires a team of highly specialized pediatric providers , including therapists , a neurologist , neuro-ophthalmologist , orthopedic surgeon and others . With McLane Children ’ s nearby , Logan has everything he needs .
“ THERE ’ S NOT ENOUGH WE COULD SAY TO THANK ALL THE PEOPLE WHO GIVE TO MAKE THIS HOSPITAL RUN THE WAY IT DOES .”
— Doris Parker , Logan ’ s mother
Logan Parker
“ Logan requires so much care and so much therapy , and having a shorter commute to a hospital close to home makes it much easier for us ,” Doris says . “ There ’ s not enough we could say to thank all the people who give to make this hospital run the way it does .”
Logan is one of thousands of McLane Children ’ s patients who benefit from generous gifts to the hospital and Children ’ s Miracle Network . He makes frequent use of imaging equipment such as MRI machines and X-ray machines for bone density tests , and someday , once fundraising is complete , Logan will enjoy a newly renovated space planned for the physical and occupational therapy department .
Unfortunately , PMD is a degenerative disorder , but Logan ’ s family knows his journey is far from over . “ We were told he probably wouldn ’ t live past the age of ten ,” Doris says , “ but , just look at him . He ’ s almost nine years old , but he ’ s not going anywhere . We know that because of McLane Children ’ s and all of the therapies that Logan receives , he ’ ll be with us for a long time .”