Landon, 9, loves sports: baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming, track. You name it, he’s played it—and excelled. Yet at 15 months old, he couldn’t walk. His left leg and arm were stiff and weak from left-sided hemiparesis, a form of cerebral palsy. A brain scan indicated he’d probably had a stroke around the time he was born.
Landon, who lives near Baltimore, began attending Kennedy Krieger Institute’s constraint-induced therapy program when he was 2. Physical and occupational therapies came next. When he was 3, his parents, Chris and Tania Brown, enrolled him in Kennedy Krieger’s Bennett Blazers adaptive sports program.
That’s when Landon discovered his passion for sports. Nervous at first about trying new things, he worked hard to improve his mobility. He’s now a highly accomplished young athlete.
Landon plays and trains with the Blazers several times a week, swimming yearround and playing other sports seasonally. He plays baseball, basketball and soccer on teams with kids without disabilities. Last summer, he took home the “Outstanding Male Athlete” trophy at his first track meet.
But Landon also gives back. For the past three years, Landon has raised more money for the Institute through its annual ROAR for Kids fundraising event than any other youth participant has, earning him the Cara Becker Youth Fundraising Award three years in a row.
Tania credits her son’s fundraising success to the family’s strong support system, and to Landon’s winning personality. “People who know Landon know how much hard work he puts in every day,” she says.
“He’s going places now because of the services we’ve received, and that’s why we—and our family and friends—support Kennedy Krieger.”
Read more about Landon in Potential Online and see him in action!
