NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A group of kids at a Nashville hospital got to have a powerful meeting Friday. Someone met with them to share a story of resilience.
A broadcast went live at Seacrest Studio Friday morning in Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Someone was there for a visit, Connor McKemey.
"Listen, it's been a lot of fun to be a part of this, and I can't thank you enough for allowing me to come on and spend time with you all," Connor told the crew at Seacrest Studio.
Children being treated at Vanderbilt were gathered to listen to the story Connor shares all over the country.
At 13, Connor's life was sports. One day, he was just trying to set a small fire in his backyard for him and his date to make s'mores when there was an explosion.
"I looked at my hands," Connor remembered. "They were black and charcoal. I couldn't feel anything. All the nerves were gone, but you knew it couldn't be a good situation. When I did wake up, I was covered head to toe in bandages. They told my parents I had a 1% chance of survival. Obviously, I woke up, so I didn't know any of that."
Despite third-degree burns on 90% of his body, Connor was determined to one day return to sports.
"I think that mindset, mentality, allowed me to not just stop at that level but ultimately compete in division one Lacrosse," he said.
Through his company Mac Mentality, Connor does motivational speaking. He's just published his book, Life Ignited.
In all his travels, Connor said he feels there's a special importance to visiting children in hospitals.
"I was one of those kids who knows what it's like to feel like life is passing you by," he said. "Life is more than possible for each and every single one of us. The possibilities end up being endless. This is the most rewarding part of what I get to do. To get to see the kids, the smiles on their faces when they interact, there's nothing like it."
"It's very personal and powerful to be sharing something that happened in your life," one of the children said after getting Connor to sign a copy of the book. "It helps a lot of people to know there's other people out there like that, so you don't have to battle it alone."
"If we can get to one life that really needed it that day, and it made the difference for them, we did our job," Connor said. "There's hope and a future for them."
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
