Texas Kidd, Missouri girl and a stolen wheelchair

Danielle Greable isn't the kind of girl to wrinkle her brow, fold her arms and complain that life isn't fair.

Cerebral palsy has made the blonde-haired, blue-eyed 7-year-old fall down plenty of times. It has made her walk awkwardly on her toes, different than the rest of the boys and girls at Meadow Heights Elementary School in Patton, Mo.

Meadow Heights is hundreds of miles from Dallas, where a soft-hearted radio DJ named Kidd Kraddick wakes people up every morning and gives surprises every year to families who deal with chronic illness, just like Danielle's family.

Danielle is in a wheelchair most of the time now.

The disease has knocked her off her feet, but it hasn't got her down.

Kim, Danielle's mother, tells the story of a school "play day" two years ago when her daughter was in kindergarten. Danielle wanted to participate in the same events her peers did.

She lined up for the 50-yard dash. All the other contestants passed her like she was standing still, but she wasn't. She was moving as fast as her little legs would move her, proud that she was participating. As she approached the finish line, she fell down. Undaunted and still proud, Danielle got back up and crossed the finish line.

Stories like that make people think she'll reach her goal of playing on a youth basketball team by fourth grade.

The little girl from Sedgewickville is as tough as boys twice her size, taking on a disease that won't go away. She attacks the disease with a luminous smile, a girlie giggle and hours and hours of physical therapy. But as brave as tough 7-year-old girls can be, they still get scared sometimes.

Such was the case this year on Oct. 2, the day before Danielle's first big surgery, one that gives her more flexibility. On Oct. 3, a St. Louis physician would perform a procedure called selective dorsal rhizomony, a scientific term for clipping nerves in Danielle's back, a surgery that Danielle says gave her "new legs."

The thought of a doctor cutting on her was scary. And it certainly was for her parents, Bob and Kim. They say they were more scared than she was.

Then the good news came ... .

DJ in Dallas

More than 13 years ago, Kidd Kraddick read a story in a Texas newspaper that struck a nerve with him.

A thief broke into a woman's car and stole, among other things, a child's wheelchair.

Kraddick talked about the story on his Dallas morning show, which was not yet nationally syndicated.

His station was bombarded by phone calls. Concerned listeners gave enough donations to buy the child a new wheelchair.

The outpouring of support made an impact on Kraddick.

Sharing pains

In a family of three, Kim is the only Greable family member who is healthy.

Danielle was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 18 months of age. Bob and Kim have taken her to St. Louis Children's Hospital two to three times a year since then.

Danielle has gone to physical therapy once a week since she was 2; and five times a week since her surgery on Oct. 3.

But the physical problems for the Greables don't stop there. When Danielle was 6 months old, Bob had a heart attack. About six months later, Bob was diagnosed with leukemia.

Like his daughter, Bob isn't one to complain. He says he frequently gets fatigued and has to take breaks to sit or lie down.

He has his good days and bad days and, since leukemia is a blood disease, Kim worries about his immune system.

Despite all the problems, Kim wouldn't change a thing, she says. She stays at home and takes care of her family.

It could be argued that Kim deserved the good news that came on Oct. 2 just as much as Danielle.

Kidd's own crisis

Some time after he read the news story over the radio, Kidd Kraddick faced a personal crisis of his own.

Doctors told Kraddick and his expecting wife, Carol, that tests had shown their baby could have brittle bone disease.

Remembering the impact he was able to make with his position at the radio station to help a child get a wheelchair, Kraddick prayed that his baby would be OK and promised God he would use his microphone to help children.

Thirteen years later, Kraddick's 13-year-old daughter, Caroline, is just fine.

And Kraddick kept his promise. In 1990, Kraddick set up Kidd's Kids, an organization that raises money to send chronically ill children between the ages of 5 and 12 years old to Disney World. Since 1990, about 500 sick or disabled children have visited the Happiest Place on Earth.

Most of the funding comes from donations made by listeners of Kraddick's morning show, corporate sponsors and fund-raising events.

The families will have everything paid for: plane tickets, hotel rooms, meals and even some spending money.

Special healing

Kim found out about Kidd's Kids from one of Danielle's physical therapists, Cherie Prenger. Prenger insisted that they apply for the trip. Kim did.

Danielle has seen Disney commercials on television. Bob says that she never asked to go, but he explained to her that he would love to take her, if only he had enough money.

On Oct. 2, the family was preparing for surgery.

The good news couldn't have come at a better time as the family was already in St. Louis Children's Hospital, waiting for surgery the next day.

Kim found out the news first.

"Guess who just called?" Kim asked Danielle.

Danielle listed one guess after another, until Kim told her.

"It was Kidd's Kids," she said. "We're going to Disney World."

The news brightened an otherwise dreadful day.

Bob describes Danielle's reaction this way:

"She has this most beautiful smile and that smile just lit up more than it ever had before. Her eyes opened up wide and you could just see the joy in her face."

On Tuesday this week, while sitting in the waiting room for her next physical therapy session, Danielle still had that glow in her eyes.

For five days next month, she'll be in Florida, taking in the sights and sounds of Disney World. The Greables say finding God has made much of their stress and worry go away, and the vacation seems like an overdue blessing.

Funny how the blessing started with the theft of a wheelchair in Dallas.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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