Now, This Kid Is A Real Hero

My idea of a hero is not some overpaid professional ballplayer hitting a home run to win the seventh game of the World Series.

It is always a someone no one ever heard of. Like Ben Sater.

Ben is 19, a resident of the Dallas suburb McKinney who Monday completed his dream of raising $1 million for the children’s hospital that provided free treatment to repair congenital damage to his fingers.

The payback began with golf tournaments in 2003 for children ages 7-18. Each child is asked to contribute $100 or more from family and friends.

In effect, Sater and his collection of kids raised the $1,018,842 on their own for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, an orthopedic center.

At the age of three, Ben had surgery on his thumb and pinky for a condition called “trigger finger” which causes the joints to lock in a bent position. At age 10, he received another free operation on three other fingers.

J.C. Montgomery Jr., president of Scottish Rite, said that the tournament does more than raise money, it also makes many new friends for the hospital. The KidSwing golf tournaments are one of the best hospital fundraisers because of children involvement, he said.

Now too old to play in his own tournament, Sater plans to stay involved as he ventures into college.

This young man has a future, my dad would say. Ben Sater, you’re off to a helluva start and in my mind a hero forever.

Cross posted on The Remmers Report

Comments are welcome. Link to my blogsite or go to my email address at temeculakid@gmail.com . Remmers’ varied career spans 26 years in the newspaper business. Read a more thorough resume on The Remmers Report.