WAXAHACHIE — Sitting next to his longtime friend, Truitt Huddle, 11-year-old Grant Kunz’s enthusiasm is palpable.
“Do you want to ride Cappy?” Huddle asks Kunz.
Kunz, who has cerebral palsy, smiles, and helps himself up onto his walker so he can walk through the stables and into the ring at Campfire Creek Therapeutic Riding Center.
Kunz doesn’t know that riding is a form of therapy for him, said his mom, Lauren Witte. He just knows he’s having fun. His twin brother, Gavin, rides alongside him. It’s an activity they can share and bond over.
“He's always smiling, always telling us what he's going to do,” said Emily Oliver, Campfire Creek co-founder. “That inspires me. Sometimes I think I have a bad day.”
Kunz has been riding at Campfire Creek since he was three. He wasn’t strong to sit up then, but riding has helped build core strength, balance, and confidence.
Now, Kunz can ride backward and forward, commanding his horse to turn left or right. He can stand up in his stirrups and can even ride with his hands up and out like an airplane.
“Good job buddy, look at that!” cheered Witte as she watched her son.
“It's changed his life,” she added.
Kunz’s ability to ride horses might fool you. Off the saddle, life isn’t always easy. He has multiple seizures a day. He can’t bathe, feed, or dress himself.
“Grant takes 11 medications a day, three different times a day,” said Witte.
While Kunz has made tremendous progress at Campfire Creek, but his mom is hopeful an experimental treatment will help improve his life in new ways.
Kunz is undergoing treatment this week at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama. The treatment uses umbilical cord cells from healthy births. It’s the same center where Ennis coach Sam Harrell was treated for multiple sclerosis. After multiple treatments, he was able to walk again and return to coaching. He spoke at a fundraiser for Kunz, said Witte.
“We're hoping it will repair some of the seizures, repair some of the cognitive things you see going on,” said Witte. “We are hopeful that it will help his motor skills, walking, eye hand coordination.”
It can take several weeks to a year after treatment to see results, said Witte. While it’s not FDA approved or legally available in the U.S., Witte is confident it will help her son.
“My job as his mom is to make sure I do everything I can to give him the best life he can have,” said Witte. “I really honestly don't have any fears or doubts about the procedure.”
The community came together to raise $50,000 for Kunz several times for treatment.
“It's very humbling,” said Witte. “It's a huge blessing. We live in a great community.”
Oliver said she helped pitch in and spread the word, as did many of the volunteers at Campfire Creek. The Red Oak Opry did their own fundraiser, raising more than $800.
“We’re excited to see what kind of difference it makes on the horse and in life,” said Oliver.
There isn’t much the community wouldn’t do for Kunz, said Oliver, because he inspires them.
Kunz and Witte are planning to take several the Stem Cell Institute,and hope to continue raising funds to make it possible through their GoFundMe page.