A reality TV star will be in Boise Thursday, adding to a long string of good charity for people affected by dwarfism.
The Salman family has lived in their American home for more than a year now. They escaped a dangerous life in Iraq while at the time raising four kids, three with a rare form of dwarfism.
"The very first day that I met the family, they were living in a shack," said Russell Hayes, who lives next door and first met the family on a tour of duty with the U.S. Army.
The Salman family gained national attention on the TLC show, "Little People, Big World."
Before that, it was a newspaper article that caught the attention of Hayes.
"The last sentence really jumped out at me. It said he had three children with some kind of dwarfism, and I thought, 'oh my gosh, that's why I'm here,'" he said.
Now a few years later, Hayes and the Salman's are next-door neighbors, but Hayes will tell you they're family. And they're dealing with issues close to his heart.
Hayes' daughter, Corina, has dwarfism. She'll be 12 this summer.
"People will stare when they see a dwarf, and you can't change them. They're not mean, they're just curious, so we've raised her to be proud," he said.
"Do you feel like you can do anything anybody else can?" he asked Corina, who nodded her head yes.
One of the men behind the national attention that eventually brought the Salman family to Kuna -- and to safety -- was Matt Roloff, the dad on "Little People, Big World."
Since the Salman's story aired, their daughter, Seja, passed away following surgery this winter.
While the Hayes family pours out their hearts and their pocketbooks to keep the family afloat, Roloff is coming to the Treasure Valley to continue what his show started.
"Of course you fall in love with this family, they're just adorable. And they needed help," said Roloff, in a phone interview with Fox 12. "That eventually led to the third trip where we actually got them and brought them home back to the states where we could get them the proper medical treatment."
Ali, 11, and Bara, 9, have a number of surgeries ahead, fixing a problem that causes their bones to twist. That's just one of a number of medical issues.
At a fundraiser Thursday, Roloff with be joined by his son, Zach. They'll be at the Basque Center in Boise.
The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 a person and $15 per family.
See Also :
No comments:
Post a Comment