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Teagan, Our Superhero

Saturday, Sept. 26, isn’t just another ordinary day for kids like Teagan. It’s a day when he’ll get to tie on his cape and meet with scores of other kids who share his rare condition at Cincinnati Walks for Kids.

“Most parents relish watching their baby sleep, but for our family, it was the most concerning time of day,” says Teagan’s mom, Kenya. “That’s when it was most apparent that he wasn’t filling out his crib.”

His family knew something was wrong soon after Teagan was born. Teagan’s growth was stagnant and he was so tiny and fragile. His parents worried he was wasting away.

But the experts at Cincinnati Children’s helped Teagan’s family find answers.

Teagan, 4, suffers from eosinophilic esophagitis – a chronic gastrointestinal disorder that causes the body to treat food like a foreign invader. That means food can cause pain if he eats the wrong thing, or worse, damage his esophagus without causing him immediate pain, but leaving lasting damage. Currently, he has 20 safe foods he can eat, but still relies on a special-order formula that gives him complete nutrition.

“It isn’t so scary when you are working with doctors you trust,” Kenya says. “Thanks to the expertise of the specialists at Cincinnati Children’s, combined with personalized care and lots of prayers, we were soon able to put together a plan to give Teagan the best chance of success in managing this rare disorder.”

That’s why Teagan and his family take part in Cincinnati Walks for Kids, walking with the Eosinophilic Avenger team. They raise money to support this care and research being done to fight the rare and devastating condition. Because Cincinnati is among the leading eosinophilic research centers, we care for kids around the world who are diagnosed with these conditions. The money raised by the Eosinophlic Avengers helps kids here in Cincinnati, like Teagan, as well as kids around the world.