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Young “Champion” Tours the USS Yorktown
Molly Hamilton May 07, 2015
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum enjoys regular visits from amazing heroes and veterans, but on Monday, May 4, 2015 we hosted a champion ambassador, Hunter Taylor. In his six years, Hunter has endured more surgeries and faced more medical obstacles than most see in a lifetime. A resident of Summerville, SC, Hunter was born deaf, with one working kidney, half a beating heart (hypoplastic left heart syndrome), a missing thymus gland, and spine and bladder defects. This year he was chosen by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals as its South Carolina Hospitals Champion Ambassador.
Hunter has made it successfully through three open-heart surgeries in his short life, but now it’s time to celebrate all that MUSC Children’s Hospital through the generosity of the Children’s Miracle Network has done to give him a normal life. To launch his year as champion ambassador, Hunter started his day with a private tour of the USS Yorktown. The ship’s mascot, Scrappy, welcomed him on board before he began to explore “The Fighting Lady.” His favorite stops on his tour were the Apollo 8 exhibit (where he experienced launching into space and descending back to earth before being picked up by the USS Yorktown) and the flight simulator. He also enjoyed checking out all of the aircraft on the flight deck.
After his tour of the ship, he headed landside and took off in a helicopter for a tour around the harbor and downtown Charleston, SC with his mom and three-year old sister Emma. After landing, he jumped into a vintage 1939 Plymouth and headed downtown to the Renaissance hotel for an official press conference and launch party.
As a SC Champion Ambassador, Hunter will help share the story and mission of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals with media, corporations, lawmakers and celebrities on tours in Atlanta, Washington and Florida. Hunter was selected, in part, because donations helped to provide the surgical devices that his doctors used to correct his heart, according to Miranda Barnard, vice president of communications at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. “He will be a great champion ambassador, helping people understand the impact of making donations of any amount to their Children’s Miracle Network Hospital,” she said. “Those dollars add up to make a huge difference to local kids such as Hunter.”
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum was honored to spend part of the day with this very special young boy and his family. Check out the pictures of his visit below:
Hunter requested to carry the employee radio with him so he’d feel official
Scrappy was waiting for Hunter to board the USS Yorktown
Scrappy welcome Hunter and his three-year old sister Emma to Patriots Point
Hunter loved the Apollo 8 exhibit and kept asking everyone to come join him
Hunter checked out some of the WWII planes with his personal tour guide Julianna Stasio
Hunter and his family were completely enthralled in the flight simulator on the USS Yorktown
Hunter checked out the 40mm guns on the flight deck of the USS Yorktown
Hunter was amazed at the size and number of planes on the flight deck
After checking out so many planes, Hunter was feeling like a top gun
To complete his visit, Hunter and his family took flight in a helicopter
The helicopter ride included a tour of Ft. Sumter, downtown Charleston and the Ravenel Bridge
Hunter posed with his helicopter pilot
Hunter left Patriots Point in a 1939 Plymouth to head to his press conference downtown
Hunter and his sister Emma enjoyed their ride in a 1939 Plymouth
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This young boy has ben through so much and he can still give every one a big smile