WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) – Raising awareness about the facial differences millions of children are born with is a special and personal mission for a family of physicians in Delaware.
Nemours Children’s Hospital is sponsoring the Blue Rocks game on Thursday, where it will host patients being treated for cleft palate. One boy will be the centerpiece.
Dr. EJ Caterson has a photo of his 10-year-old son hanging in his office at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Delaware, before he underwent surgery to repair the cleft lip he was born with.
“It’s just something that makes you special,” Charlie Caterson said.
This is a special family story with an ironic twist.
EJ Caterson of Nemours Children’s Hospital and his wife met while doing humanitarian work for Operation Smile, an international organization that repairs cleft lips and palates.
“It is one of the most common birth defects in the world,” said EJ Caterson.
Following that experience, EJ Caterson and his wife Stephanie decided to become plastic surgeons. They later had their son Charlie.
“What are the chances of two plastic surgeons having a child with a cleft lip?” asked EJ Caterson.
That’s a long shot, but it inspired the Catersons to leave Harvard and move to Delaware, where EJ Caterson is now chief of plastic surgery at Nemours and routinely operates on patients with cleft palates.
“The ability to change someone’s life in a 45-minute, hour-and-a-half operation makes a huge difference,” he said.
Charlie, who is in fourth grade, says he considers his repaired lip a badge of honor.
“I have a really good life and it makes me feel stronger about myself,” the 10-year-old said.
A good life in which he enjoys the summer with his two brothers and prepares to throw the first pitch at the upcoming Blue Rocks game, which is dedicated to National Cleft and Craniofacial Disorders Awareness Month.
“I feel very honored and I can’t wait,” Charlie Caterson said of throwing out the first pitch at the game against the Blue Rocks.
A little boy who changed his parents’ world, and now they are committed to helping others.
Many other cleft palate patients treated at Nemours will join the Catersons for Thursday night’s game against the Hudson Valley Renegades in Wilmington.
Stephanie Stahl
