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Featured Team - Austin’s Ice-Cubes

Born on Saturday, March 5, 2005 at Howard County General Hospital, Austin was diagnosed as having Down Syndrome within a few hours of his birth. Melissa Shown explains, “When the doctor's told us this news we were shocked; however, we were so excited to have a baby that we knew we could handle anything God gave us”. A few hours later, the Showns were given difficult news about the state of Austin’s heart – explaining that he had a large hole in his heart, which they thought would eventually need surgery. After spending the first several weeks of his life at John's Hopkins Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, he had surgery to fix the obstruction and was to finally come home. The next few months were equally as challenging though as Austin had to fight several medical issues. austin image

Austin is now 3 1/2 years old and thriving, and most of his medical conditions are no longer an issue and the hole in his heart is almost completely closed. Austin is a happy little guy who loves being a big brother to Dylan, and playing with all of his cousins. He loves Barney (and friends), likes to play on the swing and sliding board (playground), take rides in his wagon, and sing and dance to everything!

Two years ago, we decided to participate in the Polar Bear Plunge. WOW, what an amazing experience! We instantly knew that this event was something that we would participate in for many years, and we couldn’t wait to share our excitement with all of our family and friends. So last year we asked some of our close family and friends to join our team, which we dubbed “Austin’s Ice-Cubes.” We raised $6,500.00, without the help of any corporate sponsors! We are now on our way to forming a larger team this year for the plunge, and our fundraising goal is $10,000. We feel it is important to do this for Austin and for the thousands of other families in Maryland who have a child or children with an intellectual disability.

Special Olympics is a wonderful organization that offers great opportunities to athletes and their families. We look forward to getting Austin involved now in the new Young Athletes Program (for children ages 2-7) that has been started thanks to the success of the Plunge, and then transitioning him into other Special Olympics Maryland sports when he gets older and can officially compete. The best thing about being part of the SOMD family is knowing that no matter what, Austin will be accepted for who he is, and also challenged to reach his full potential.

Missy & Rusty Shown
(Austin’s Mom & Dad)

Go to Austin's Ice Cubes Team Page> austin image

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