Trevor Hendershot is quite a young man. I think you’d like meeting him.
Cheerleaders in his high school once made banners to cheer him on, and he was so popular he was voted homecoming king. He was a little quirky, too. He had a habit of loudly singing Christian songs in the hallway before, during, and after school. He gave everyone he talked to a high-five, a hug, or a fist bump.
He’s now in his mid-20’s and works for the Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball franchise. If you see him at the stadium and stop by to say hello, he’ll give you a hug and a fist bump, too.
Trevor wasn’t a quarterback or one of the “cool” kids. Trevor has Down syndrome.
Bob Hendershot, Trevor’s dad, will be with us on our radio program today. He’ll tell us all about Trevor and share the tremendous adversity Bob and his wife, Melissa, battled through to help Trevor thrive despite his disability.
Raising a child with Down syndrome is not easy. That’s probably why, according to some reports, as many as 90 percent of babies determined to have Down syndrome in pre-screening tests are aborted.
Trevor might have been in that majority. When Trevor was born, Bob didn’t want to bring him home. He shook his fist in anger at God. “Why me?” he thought. “I don’t deserve this.”
It’s been 26 years, and Bob still says he doesn’t deserve Trevor … only for very different reasons. Bob now says, “Raising a child with a disability is something I wouldn’t wish on anybody, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything or anyone in the world.”
In case you didn’t know, today is World Down Syndrome Day.
That’s worth acknowledging for a couple of reasons. First, those with Down syndrome deserve to be celebrated. Second, God often works through those with Down syndrome to teach the rest of us that what God says about the dignity and sanctity of human life is true. We are all created in God’s image, and therefore have inestimable worth and significance. This is why we at Focus on the Family stand for life and why we give a voice to the preborn, the orphan, the elderly, the mentally disabled, and the physically challenged.
I hope you’ll join us for our program today to hear about the Hendershots’ trials and triumphs, their setbacks and successes, and their tears of great sadness that have become tears of great joy. “Shining a Positive Light on Down’s Syndrome” can be heard on your local radio station, online, or on our free phone app.
And if you’d like to meet Trevor, there’s good news: you can. He works at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California in the team store. If you live in the area or will be on the West Coast this summer and can attend a game, stop by and say “hi” to Trevor. You can pick up a jersey as a souvenir…
…and I’m confident you’ll get a fist bump.
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