• 

  City wants to buy weather radios for those without

  Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.

Joplin Metro

Search Results

Close Previous Now showing: of Next

Previous Next Close

Related Photos

• 

Related Links

• Click here to read previous Globe coverage of Abe Andrews, another local kids named Missouri's CMN Champion.
• Click here to learn more about the Children's Miracle Network Champions program

Discussion

March 10, 2009

<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0>Webb City youth chosen as CMN’s Missouri champion<font color="#ff0000"> w/ CMN champion info </font>

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Tue Mar 10, 2009, 10:49 PM CDT

By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

WEBB CITY, Mo. — When Tristen Lancaster was born, doctors said he’d never walk.

Try telling that to his family members, who can’t keep him still.

“You can’t hold him down,” said his grandfather, Rick Lancaster, of Neck City. “They said he’d never walk, but now he runs.”

Tristen is 4, and after several surgeries and therapy for multiple birth defects, he is being honored for his bravery. Tristen will represent Missouri as the state’s Children’s Miracle Network Child Champion this year.

Every year, each state honors a child who received care at a CMN hospital. The champions get a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and a visit to the White House to talk about their illnesses and how CMN has helped them.

This is the second year in a row that Missouri’s champion child has been from the Joplin area. Last year, the honor went to Abe Andrews, now 8, of Riverton, Kan.

Freeman Health System and CMN announced Tristen as Missouri’s champion Tuesday at the Webb City Wal-Mart.

Tristen was born prematurely with a variety of defects including severe laryngeal tracheomalacia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, dysphagia, congenital scoliosis and club feet. His conditions mean he has difficulty breathing, speaking and walking.

In his four years, Tristen has had surgeries for putting in a gastric feeding tube, and for repairing an umbilical hernia, a deformed thumb and some connective tissue problems.

“He has trouble making his muscles do what he wants them to do,” said Kathy Watson, local CMN coordinator.

Melissa Brumfield, Tristen’s physical therapist, said she watched him go from having trouble sitting up to learning to play baseball and ride a bike. He went from a walker to leg braces, and he now walks unaided.

“He has truly been an amazing little guy,” Brumfield said. “He has exceeded all my goals, all of his goals and sometimes even my expectations.”

Tristen’s great-grandfather, William Pierce, of Neck City, said the boy’s progress is nothing less than astonishing.

“The Lord brought him back to us,” Pierce said tearfully.

‘Without CMN ...’

It has been a long journey for Tristen’s mother, Amber Lancaster, of Webb City. Tristen’s medical problems were unexpected, she said, and she was a frightened first-time mother who just wanted to see her baby.

“He just stayed in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for what seemed like forever,” she said of Tristen’s 45-day stay in the hospital. “The hardest part was all the tests they ran, and no one could figure out what was wrong with him.”

Although Tristen continues to improve with weekly therapy, he still has difficulty with his motor function and speech. And doctors still don’t have a diagnosis for his overall condition, Amber Lancaster said.

“We don’t fall into enough categories for any one condition,” she said.

CMN funding has helped pay for some of Tristen’s equipment over the years, as well as some of the equipment in the Freeman NICU.

“Without CMN’s help, we really couldn’t do it,” Amber Lancaster said. “We couldn’t provide the necessities that we needed.”

That help continued Tuesday when Wal-Mart’s corporate office, the sponsor for CMN’s Champion program, gave Amber Lancaster a $500 gift card, and the employees of the Webb City store gave her another $500 gift card.

“It’s going to be great for them to buy the things they need for this (upcoming) trip,” said Dave Warden, manager of the Webb City Wal-Mart. “They can use it for things that they don’t normally plan for.”





Local money



Locally, Children’s Miracle Network assists children from birth to 21 years old in a 14-county area of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. Money that is raised helps furnish and maintain the Freeman neonatal intensive care unit, funds local organizations’ pediatric needs, and buys pediatric emergency equipment.

Text Only

Joplin Metro

• Longtime Democrat dies at 81

  Sapp, 81, died Thursday. Funeral services were Monday at the First Presbyterian Church of Joplin. A longtime Jasper County Democratic committeewoman and volunteer, Sapp for years was secretary to the county’s central committee.

  August 9, 2010 1 Photo

• Motivational speaker offers free marriage course

  Presented by Mark Gungor, the course is being offered free to the community. The event is being held to aid in tornado relief. 

  January 12, 2012

• District sends faculty, administrators on site visits

  With the design phase of several buildings in Joplin Schools ending in May, the district has sent 66 administration, faculty, parents and community members on site visits to 22 schools and two technology company headquarters across the country.

  January 11, 2012

• Mural depicting Joplin High School dedicated

  A four-paneled mural depicting the recent history of Joplin High School was dedicated at the Memorial 9th- and 10th-grade Center Tuesday morning. The mural will be moved to the new high school when it is completed in 2014.

  January 10, 2012 4 Photos

• Carl Junction chamber creating new committees

  The Carl Junction Chamber of Commerce is kicking off three new committees this week with meetings scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday.

  January 9, 2012

• Body of missing Joplin man found

  The body of a missing Joplin man was discovered this afternoon inside his home in the Royal Heights neighborhood of Joplin.

  January 3, 2012

• Wildcat Glades nature center receives $50,000 grant

  The Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center has received a $50,000 TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, which is being provided through an alliance between the National Audubon Society and Toyota.

  October 21, 2011

• Joplin shooting victim’s name released

  The Joplin Police Department today released the name of a woman fatally shot in her home early Thursday and acknowledged that the shooting was reported as a suicide attempt.

  October 21, 2011

• Barry Manilow to deliver donated instruments

  Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow will visit Joplin next week to donate more than $300,000 in musical instruments to replace those lost during the May 22 tornado.

  October 21, 2011

• Extreme Makeover releases names of families

  "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has released more details about the build in the 2400 block of Connor Avenue, including the names of the seven families. They are:

  October 19, 2011

• More Joplin Metro Headlines

© 2012 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. · CNHI Classified Advertising Network · CNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2012. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope. Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
Privacy Policy | AP News Registry privacy policy
Terms and Conditions
Advertiser Index

Events by eviesays.com

The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO 117 E. Fourth Street Joplin, Missouri 64801