TACOMA, Wash. — It’s been 8 years since Oliver Strode was abandoned as an infant at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma.
Not to worry, he’s all smiles these days and recently dabbled in wheelchair basketball.
He’s come a long way and overcome many medical hurdles. Oliver found his family when his mother, Sarah Strode, got a call back in 2015.
“I got a call about this beautiful baby that had all of these medical complexities,” Sarah Strode said.
She was at work and felt compelled to head directly to the hospital to meet Oliver. She admits it was love at first eye contact.
“The first time I held him he looked into my eyes and we just kind of became a team from that point on,” she said.
Ollie is a kid who knows how to beat the odds. He was born with multiple medical complications, including a condition called Hydrops Fetalis which comes with a 10% survival rate after birth.
When Sarah and Dave Strode decided to adopt little Oliver it came with the reality that he was on a feeding tube, had Cerebral Palsy, Craniosynostosis, two holes in his heart and a horseshoe kidney.
“It was an incredibly tough journey but these people were by our side every step of the way,” Sarah Strode said of the staff at Mary Bridge. She now volunteers for the hospital.
Oliver and his siblings delivered flowers to community doorsteps as a part of MultiCare’s Hope Grows Here Project and Oliver also helped make Valentine's Day a very special day for other kids in the hospital.
Oliver and his mother delivered balloons to kids who are in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
“It’s powerful to feel the love returned,” said Dr. Tito Monge. Dr. Monge cared for Oliver as a baby and was among the first to receive a big hug as Ollie rolled into the PICU.
“It’s really special for all of us to get a visit from him,” said Monge.
Oliver says he’s feeling good, is excited about basketball and wanted to get an early start on his Valentine's Day visit to the hospital so he could also get to school and join his class for a Valentine's Day party.
You can read more about Oliver overcoming the odds on the MultiCare website.