PITTSBURGH — When Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle for the first time walked in to the Children’s Institute in Pittsburgh in 2006, he said five words, “You had me at hello.”
The Children’s Institute, which is located in the east end of Pittsburgh in Shadyside, operates the only inpatient program for medical, behavioral and rehabilitation management of individuals with Prader-Willi Syndrome. The program, which has been around since 1981, uses a team of physicians, nurses, nutritionists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and psychologists to focus on individual weight control. They also teach behavioral control, nutrition and awareness, social skills and physical exercise.
The event is particularly close to Hurdle, whose daughter Maddie was diagnosed with PWS.
“It really is a special place,” Said Hurdle, who has made three visits to the Children‘s Institute this year. “To think that I walked in the door here in 2006 and what its transpired now is pretty special.”
Hurdle, along with Pirates pitchers Daniel McCutchen and James McDonald, and broadcaster John Wehner visited the Children’s Institute on Thursday to unveil in a ribbon cutting ceremony new fitness equipment for the Prader-Willi Syndrome Program.
The room, which featured treadmills, elliptical and stationary bikes, allows the children and adults to work out in a private environment.
“I asked what we could do first to make an impact,” Hurdle said. “And they said they have this vision of putting together a workout room for the kid and they had a vision of expanding the floor. They said either one would be great, and we were actually able to do both. They’ve almost doubled the beds where they can get in twice as many kids or adults to keep them in house. They have a lounge area now that they never had before, and now the workout room. It’s a big step forward.”
The Equipment was purchased through the Pirates “Wins for Kids” program, which Hurdle and his wife Karla created when he was a Manager with the Colorado Rockies. The program raised over $52,000 for Pirates Charities and The Children’s Institute. Through the “Wins for Kids” program, fans were able to make a one-time donation or contribute money for every Pirates win. The Pirates also made visits to The Day School and the Hospital Pediatrics unit while at the Children’s Institute.
Maddie, Hurdle’s daughter who is nine-years-old, will start coming in to the program once every two weeks after the New Year.
“When I come in, they all know about Maddie,“ Hurdle said. “But I’m looking forward to that day when she comes in and she can interact. There’s a little girl [here] now that’s seven, I didn’t even know the mother until today, but she tells us that we’ve been a source of inspiration for us for years and you don’t even know that. To hear that, you’re thinking, that’s pretty good stuff.”
Hurdle, who became a resident of Pittsburgh this offseason, impact not only stems on the players and the organization, but into the community too. Hurdle is an inspiration to other families that have children with Prader-Willi Syndrome. Hurdle talked to a family on Wednesday who had just found out their baby has PWS.
“When the woman’s pregnant, what does every woman say? I don’t care what I have, as long as it’s healthy,” Hurdle recalled of the conversation. “So let’s take a step further, what if it’s not healthy? Now what do we do? So that’s where you are. That’s where we were. There are so many people like you, so when you can share the experience, when you can really just retch it down to their level where they see you’re no different than them, jobs are different, but at the end of the day, we all would trade in our job for the health of our child. And that’s not going to happen. But the most humbling aspect from our prospective from Maddie is how many people want to help your child and how humbled you are by the gifts that people give your child that you can’t give them. They do it not because you’re the Manager of the Pirates, they do it because they love the kids.
After the ceremony, there was a holiday party for the kids, who were given Santa hat’s with the Pirates logo and were able to mingle with the Bucs. Players McCutchen and McDonald were the life of the holiday party as they were dancing to the Macarena and even played limbo with the kids.
“It’s awesome. You see a lot of kids that are less fortunate than us that are getting a huge smile on their face, they’re happy,“ McCutchen said. “We’re out there limbo’ing and dancing on the dance floor with them. It’s just a lot of fun.”
McCutchen said he feels a responsibility to partake in charity events and the Pirates Charities do such a great job in the community.
“It’s something that comes with it,“ he said. “If you want to become a professional baseball player, you need to give back. You’re in a position where kids look up to you just because you’re on T.V. Whether you want the responsibility or not, you need take ownership of it. Coming out here and doing things like this, it makes the kids happy. You realize that the simple little everyday things that you do can make somebody talk about it for a long time, whether it’s a big deal or not.”
For more information on Hurdle’s “Wins for Kids” campaign and how you can make a donation, please visit here.
“There are so many stories we can’t write up,“ Hurdle said. “The adventure that life will take you on if you use your eyes, use your ears and keep your heart open, it’s amazing the places that you can go. This is a perfect example.”
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