MEET ADDYSON
Addyson was diagnosed with Kozlowski Type Spondylometaphyseal Dysplasia, a bone disease characterized by short stature, and Kyphoscoliosis Deformity of the Spine, which causes her to bend forward. To treat her conditions, Addyson needs a lot of surgeries and in 2018 she suffered a rare complication after a halo traction surgery and related procedures. A spinal cord injury caused her to lose complete function of her right leg. After that surgery, Addyson spent weeks in the rehabilitation unit and went through numerous therapies, but miraculously regained her ability to walk. She still sees a pulmonary care team and gets special injections to treat her fragile bones. Addyson will likely need more surgeries to continue to correct her condition, but her family knows that Nationwide Children’s Hospital can provide the best possible outcomes.
“Nationwide Children’s is a place that we can take our daughter to and know that she is in the best possible place to receive medical care. It is a place where myself, my husband, my daughter and family have formed a relationship with and a place where my daughter sees familiar faces to calm her nerves – and ours,” says her mom, Stephanie.
Addyson is now nine and loves dancing and singing, especially to her favorite musician, Jojo Siwa. She loves swimming, doing puzzles, arts and crafts and writing stores. While doing rehabilitation work with Beck, one of the therapy dogs at Nationwide Children’s, she fell in love with animals and now she wants to be a zookeeper when she grows up.
Age on Race Day: 9 years old
Diagnosis: Kozlowski type spondylometaphyseal dysplasia, Kyphoscoliosis of the spine