The Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Golf Tournament starts this week in Summerlin.
They've helped almost one million kids in the country since 1922, including one local teenager named LaQuan Phillips.
LaQuan was an affable teenager with his whole life ahead of him. Wearing jersey number 3, he started on the Green Valley High School football team and was captain for a game against Centennial last September.
But in the blink of an eye, it all changed. LaQuan was blind-sided, left face down on the field.
"I was laying there and my teammate said, ‘Get up.' I didn't respond at first. And I looked up and said, ‘I can't move.'"
LaQuan's spinal cord was severely bruised; he was paralyzed from the neck down. With limited options, the Shriners Hospital for Children came to the rescue, flying him to their hospital in Sacramento, California for treatment.
The Shriners treat thousands of children with spinal cord injuries, severe burns, and cleft lips and palettes every year. And they do it free of charge to families.
Over the last decade, they've treated more than 2,000 children from Southern Nevada - just like LaQuan.
"Those of us involved, Shriners and non-Shriners, do this for the love of children and the improvement we can make in their lives," says Shriner Gary Davis, Tournament Director of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Golf Tournament.
Two months after the accident, LaQuan was back on the sidelines with his teammates. About a year later, he's walking again, and with intense workouts at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Henderson, LaQuan is expected to gain even more mobility.
He says he's not sure where he'd be without the Shriners.
"(I felt that) at Shriners, this kid is our kid, let's give him everything we can. I just feel a lot of love at Shriners."
LaQuan is now enrolled in college and is looking forward to the future. He hopes to one day be a sports agent.
The Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Golf Tournament is being held at TPC Summerlin this week.
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=11297954
They've helped almost one million kids in the country since 1922, including one local teenager named LaQuan Phillips.
LaQuan was an affable teenager with his whole life ahead of him. Wearing jersey number 3, he started on the Green Valley High School football team and was captain for a game against Centennial last September.
But in the blink of an eye, it all changed. LaQuan was blind-sided, left face down on the field.
"I was laying there and my teammate said, ‘Get up.' I didn't respond at first. And I looked up and said, ‘I can't move.'"
LaQuan's spinal cord was severely bruised; he was paralyzed from the neck down. With limited options, the Shriners Hospital for Children came to the rescue, flying him to their hospital in Sacramento, California for treatment.
The Shriners treat thousands of children with spinal cord injuries, severe burns, and cleft lips and palettes every year. And they do it free of charge to families.
Over the last decade, they've treated more than 2,000 children from Southern Nevada - just like LaQuan.
"Those of us involved, Shriners and non-Shriners, do this for the love of children and the improvement we can make in their lives," says Shriner Gary Davis, Tournament Director of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Golf Tournament.
Two months after the accident, LaQuan was back on the sidelines with his teammates. About a year later, he's walking again, and with intense workouts at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Henderson, LaQuan is expected to gain even more mobility.
He says he's not sure where he'd be without the Shriners.
"(I felt that) at Shriners, this kid is our kid, let's give him everything we can. I just feel a lot of love at Shriners."
LaQuan is now enrolled in college and is looking forward to the future. He hopes to one day be a sports agent.
The Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Golf Tournament is being held at TPC Summerlin this week.
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=11297954
