Though he was struck with hardship at birth, Carter Brown could be the most confident and inspirational eight-year-old in the country.
Born with osteogenesis imperfecta, commonly known as brittle bone disease, the son of Mike and Jennifer Brown wasn’t given much of a chance early on. His body was broken at birth, and his parents were told their newborn son would never walk.
After eight years of regular treatment and care at the Shriners Hospital for Children – Canada in Montreal, Carter is a typical youngster in rural Saskatchewan, with the Estevan family now living in Milestone.
Or he would be a typical kid if he weren’t the Western Canadian Ambassador for Fundraising for the Exceptional Care for Exceptional Kids campaign, raising money for the new Children’s Hospital in Montreal, which is planned for completion this spring. He has helped raise thousands for the hospital.
Along with his good friend and retired Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo, Carter will be part of a fundraising banquet in Regina on March 20.
As ambassador, Carter spoke at the hospital fundraiser’s charity golf tournament last summer. That’s where he and Calvillo first met and hit it off.
“They became instant friends,” said Carter’s mother Jennifer, noting they have kept in touch since.
Calvillo got some tickets for Carter and his family to attend a Saskatchewan Roughrider home game last fall with the Alouettes in town. Calvillo didn’t mind being second in Carter’s life to the Roughriders.
“He told us, of course, to wear our green and cheer for our Riders,” said Jennifer.
After the game, Carter met Roughrider players in the locker room.
When Calvillo popped into visit Carter at the hospital on one of his trips, he offered to help Carter with his fundraising efforts.
“We decided that if that offer was on the table, we better make something of it,” said Jennifer.
So, last fall plans to hold An Evening with Good Friends: Carter and Calvillo, which will be held this Friday in Regina at the Delta Hotel, began.
“It has been amazing for me to be the Western Canadian Ambassador for the Shriners Hospital,” said Carter, who noted he has done a number of small fundraisers and regularly shares his story with others. “I talk about how much the hospital has helped me.”
Carter said he has learned to like his trips to the hospital because, “then I know I’m going to be treated with care and respect.”
With Carter’s original diagnosis, it was thought all of his treatment would be reactive. When his bones broke, they would be casted until they healed. The trips to Montreal have allowed Carter to undertake a much more proactive plan that increases his bone density to make him sturdier.
Carter has been to the Shriner Hospital in Montreal more than 40 times to treat his condition. He receives a special medication, administered through an IV. He also gets new X-rays during every visit.
For Carter, the treatment is helping. Asked how his bones are doing, he replied, “Really well.
“They used to break all the time, and now they don’t. I can do running, jumping, playing with my friends,” he said.
Carter is expecting to continue treatment in Montreal until he is 21, though Jennifer said that age may be raised to 25 in the near future.
“They are definitely the experts in his condition, and most orthopedic conditions, not only in Canada but in the world,” she said.
When Carter was born in Regina, he spent a few days at the local hospital. His parents were told he wouldn’t walk, he wouldn’t sit up on his own and his arm would break simply by picking up a pencil.
At seven weeks old, he made his first trip to Montreal, sponsored by the Shriners, and his treatments began immediately. Those treatments have paid off. His bone density has increased by 150 per cent. Along with increasing bone density, the treatment helps to take away the aches and pains in his bones and joints.
“As soon as he finished his very first treatment out there as a baby, he started sleeping through the night,” said Jennifer, who added that he would previously be uncomfortable and crying all night, experiencing spasms from his fractures.
“The way Carter is now is absolutely incredible because what we thought was going to be his life is totally different. We’re OK with him being in a wheelchair. We were fine with him not being able to walk, but the constant pain and fracturing that he was going through as a baby was really, really hard,” added Jennifer. “Now that he doesn’t feel the pain all the time, he’s not fracturing often, and he’s able to go out and run around and play with his friends, it’s all we can ask for.”
The Shriners have covered everything from flights and hotel rooms to treatment, equipment, surgeries and therapies. Carter continues to make three trips to Montreal for treatment each year, half of what he had to do as a baby.
As far as the attention, the responsibility and his growing friendship with, perhaps, the best quarterback in CFL history, it’s all very normal to Carter.
“He just thinks that Anthony is his buddy, and he’s excited that they get to hang out. He’ll do his speech and just be happy to raise more money for the hospital,” said Jennifer.
And Carter confirmed, it’s his friend Anthony who he really wants to see again come Friday.
