Owen Quinn
"Owen and his twin brother were born August 11th, 2017. Although his twin was larger, Owen can proudly boast that he is the “Big Brother”, because he is 23 minutes older. At around 2 weeks old, we noticed that Owen would not turn his head very far to his left side. Owen’s pediatrician diagnosed him with Torticollis and recommended physical therapy. Things seemed to be proceeding smoothly, until around 4 months of age, when we noticed that Owen did not ever seem to open his right hand, or move his right arm. It was at this point that we were referred to Riley.
In March 2018 Owen made his first visit to Riley for an MRI, where his neurologist diagnosed him with Right-Sided Hemiparesis, a type of Cerebral Palsy that affects the right half of the body. Although this was devastating news, we were determined to do everything in our power to give Owen the tools he needed to succeed. He began an intense weekly regimen of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and later, Speech Therapy.
Despite what was thrown at him, Owen continued to meet the usual milestones, and was walking at just shy of 15 months. It also helped having a brother for him to “keep up with”! As Owen became more proficient at walking, we noticed that he drifted diagonally. This lead us back to Riley, where another battery of tests determined he had Hemianopsia; blindness in the right half of each eye. However, this didn’t slow Owen down, and through his own determination, he was able to compensate.
In December of 2021, at age 4 ½, Owen had his first seizure. Once again, we visited his neurologist, who diagnosed him with Epilepsy. With coordination between Riley and his pediatrician, we were able to find the right dose of preventative medication for Owen, and this April he will have been seizure-free for one year!
Owen is a little ray of sunshine and brings happiness to his entire family. Aside from this, he is a continual inspiration, as he has not let any of his diagnoses stop him from enjoying swimming in his Grandma and Grandpa’s pool, chasing his brothers outside, climbing on anything that will hold him, and bouncing on the backyard trampoline. Every day brings surprising new ways that Owen conquers obstacles."
-The Quinn Family