Daisy Dickenson, 11, a patient at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Spokane, will have the experience of a lifetime when she represents the local hospital at the PGA TOUR’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, held at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas on November 2-5.
Daisy was chosen as one of 22 patient ambassadors throughout the country to represent the hospital network at the tournament, where she will serve as a standard bearer throughout the weekend, carrying the scores of professional golfers as they compete in the tournament. It is a rare “inside the ropes” opportunity at a PGA TOUR event, as well as the chance to share how Shriners Hospitals have helped transform her life.
Daisy was adopted at age six from China by Jim and Terri Dickenson of Spokane. She was born with an underdeveloped left hand and no left foot. Her family contacted the Spokane Hospital prior to bringing Daisy home, knowing she would need expert pediatric orthopedic care. She has been a patient at the Spokane Shriners Hospital for five years, having had surgeries on her hand and reconstruction surgery on her leg.
Daisy thinks Shriners Hospital is spectacular. “They treat me and my family with such care and respect,” she says.
Before getting a prosthetic leg, Daisy walked with an extreme limp and at an odd angle, putting strain on her spine. Now she walks straight and confident. “Thanks to the Spokane Shriners Hospital, she is flourishing,” Terri said.
Daisy’s interests vary from showing her pig at the fair, to baseball. Her personality is bright and fun – for instance, so that she was not found in a game of hide-and-seek, she put her prosthetic under a blanket and hid somewhere else. Sharing about her prosthetic and some of the procedures she has gone through is important to Daisy.
“Teaching other kids about what it is like living with limb differences has given her confidence,” Terri says.
Because of her love for science and great experiences at Shriners Hospital, Daisy dreams of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
“The purpose of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open is to not only bring PGA TOUR golf to Las Vegas, but more importantly, to bring awareness to the great work of Shriners Hospitals for Children and the work those hospitals do to help transform the lives of children with orthopedic conditions, burns, cleft lip and palate and spinal cord injuries,” said Adam Sperling, executive director of the SHC Open. “We thought that bringing more of the hospital’s patients to the tournament and giving them an opportunity to experience some of the best golfers in the world would be a great way to increase the involvement of the hospitals and the patients in this event.”
As part of her participation in the tournament, Daisy’s story and photo will appear in the tournament program, and her information will be shared with Golf Channel, which will be televising the tournament.
Click here for information about the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
see you soon Daisy!
— shrinersopen (@ShrinersOpen) October 23, 2017
