Teen Gets Date With Rams Cheerleaders

 

(Photo:graduation gowns)No date for the Homecoming dance, no problem if you’re Sam Haddox, a junior at St. Francis Borgia Regional High School.

Sam’s dating situation quickly changed when he attended the Make-A-Wish “Night of Wishes” dinner auction Sept. 14 in St. Louis.

Sam, who has complex congenital heart defects, is a Make-A-Wish kid. His wish to see the Matterhorn, a mountain in Switzerland, was granted this past summer.

At the auction, while everyone was mingling after the dinner, St. Louis Rams football player Rodger Saffold learned that Sam didn’t have a date for Homecoming.

“Rodger put his arm around Sam and said ‘I’ll be your wingman’ and walked him over to the cheerleaders and encouraged him to ask them to Homecoming,” said Sam’s mom, Kathy Haddox.

“They said yes and two of them met Sam at the Hawthorne Inn for dinner and then went to the dance with him,” she said, adding that the Rams organization, including the players and cheerleaders, are very involved with Make-A-Wish.

Sam had flowers for his dates, Sara and Breanna, and treated them to dinner. His buddy, Connor Kriete, also came along to even things out, Haddox said. They then headed to the dance, held this past Saturday at the high school.

The cheerleaders, who drove out in their own vehicle, stayed until the Homecoming king and queen were crowned and then danced a few more dances before heading home.

Haddox said the cheerleaders also graciously smiled for countless photos at the dance.

“They were incredibly nice and so patient with pictures and all of the students,” she said. “It was a very generous act on their part.”

Sam’s diagnosis of complex congenital heart defects means he has a series of defects that don’t fit into any specific category. He had his first heart surgery when he was just 18 days old and two more before he turned 3.

In second grade, Sam got a pacemaker which was replaced in the spring of 2013. He sees a cardiologist at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis every six months for an echocardiogram and checkup.

“Before his second surgery one of his nurses told me he qualified for Make-A-Wish,” Haddox said. “It’s not really something you want your kid to qualify for, but it was nice of her to let me know.”

Haddox explained that Make-A-Wish is for children with life-threatening illnesses. It used to be for terminally ill children, she said, but the organization later changed their mission.

When Sam went for his checkup the summer of his eighth-grade year, the same nurse reminded his mom that he would age out at 18 to have a wish granted. This time the family decided to do it.

“Make-A-Wish visited us and scheduled his wish for the summer of his freshman year,” Haddox said. “But, it got bumped because he needed a new pacemaker, so he actually got his wish to see the Matterhorn this summer.”

Haddox said Sam chose Switzerland after seeing a presentation at St. Francis Borgia Middle School.Read more at:red carpet dresses