[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14943]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REGARDING JED WUNDERLICH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JASON CHAFFETZ

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 30, 2010

  Mr. CHAFFETZ. Madam Speaker, I come before the House of 
Representatives to honor an extraordinary young man, Jed Wunderlich, 
from the heart of Utah's third congressional district, Milford, Utah.
  Jed was born with hydrocephalus, and has undergone numerous surgeries 
for his condition. Jed has experienced more physical pain in his short 
life than many of us will ever experience throughout our lifetimes. Yet 
through his many surgeries and hospitalizations, he has remained 
positive and serves as an inspiration for his Milford All South Cal 
Ripkin summer all-star baseball team.
  Although Jed has never been on a baseball team before, he has proven 
himself to be an important member of Milford's team. Despite having no 
experience pitching, Jed's coach, Jacob Ihde, recently put Jed in as 
pitcher. Jed proceeded to strike out three batters.
  Jed is an inspiration to his classmates, the people of Utah, and 
those who suffer from hydrocephalus. I am proud to honor his 
accomplishments and hope to see many more from this motivating young 
man.

                [From the Deseret News, July 22, 2010.]

                  Milford Boy Inspires Team, Community

                     (By Cynthia Kimball Humphreys)

       Milford, Beaver County.--Jed Wunderlich's positive attitude 
     is probably why he wasn't cut from Milford's All South Cal 
     Ripkin summer all-star baseball team even though he'd never 
     been on a team before.
       And perhaps it was why coach Jacob Ihde, after noticing the 
     11-year-old seemed down after sitting on the bench for the 
     first four innings of a recent game, asked him if he wanted 
     to pitch. There was just one small problem. Jed had never 
     pitched before.
       For a split second, Jed looked at his coach in disbelief. 
     Then he bolted to the mound as though he knew what he was 
     doing.
       ``I was afraid for him,'' said Jed's mother, Trish 
     Wunderlich. ``But I trusted the coaches knew what they were 
     doing.''
       Three strikeouts later, Jed was flying high, smiling 
     incessantly.
       The crowd went wild standing and cheering on their feet, 
     moved to tears.
       ``I just bawled,'' said Milford coach Gary Mayer.
       Even umpire Merlin Figgins took off his mask to wipe away 
     tears.
       Trish Wunderlich couldn't contain herself. After all, she'd 
     seen her boy in pain and held him so many times when it was 
     unbearable--especially in 2006 when he had what she calls 
     ``the big surgery'' at Primary Children's Medical Center 
     where he had his whole face moved forward. An incision was 
     made from ear to ear, skull bone was cut then made bigger and 
     eventually put back together again in an 11-hour surgery.
       A mid-face distracter was inserted behind his right ear 
     that Jed's parents would have to turn twice daily to help his 
     skull grow. The pain was excruciating for Jed and for his 
     parents, who not only had to turn the distracter, but also 
     had to watch and hear Jed scream and cry out in agony.
       Jed was born with hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and 
     had undergone 60 surgeries by the time he turned 11, the 
     first when he was just 8 months old after his parents 
     wondered why his head was so large at 2 weeks old. By age 7, 
     he would be diagnosed with Crusins Syndrome, a genetic 
     disorder characteristic of swelling on the brain. Most of his 
     many surgeries were shunt surgeries, where fluid is drained 
     from the brain. The Wunderliches know Primary Children's 
     Medical Center all too well, often staying there with Jed for 
     30 days at a time.
       Even so, when his mother asks him, ``How come you smile so 
     much?'' He simply and matter-of-factly replies, ``Because I'm 
     happy.''
       ``He just draws people to him wherever he goes,'' she said.
       ``I've had a couple of complete strangers come up to us and 
     say they get some kind of vibe off of him,'' added his 
     father, Ryan Wunderlich. ``They don't even know his name or 
     circumstances.''
       ``How did you feel when you where pitching?'' Trish 
     Wunderlich later asked her son.
       ``Excited and happy,'' is all he said.
       ``None of his teammates say, `Why are you putting Jed 
     in?''' said grandmother Susan Nettle proudly.
       Milford Elementary School Principal Ben Dalton, who has 
     known Jed for five years, spoke of how Jed was in and out of 
     school for several years, but worked hard to keep up with his 
     studies, never complaining, so that he kept on track with his 
     class.
       ``He never asks to be treated differently,'' he said.
       ``The other kids in school really like him. He has a lot of 
     friends. He looks out for them, and they look out for him 
     even though Jed's been described as socially backward, 
     uncoordinated and quite shy,'' Trish Wunderlich said. ``In 
     addition, he's been self-conscious of his surgeries and the 
     medical equipment.''
       When asked how he likes playing on the baseball team, Jed 
     said, ``I'm having a lot of fun,'' unaware of the positive 
     impact he has on others.
       ``He's always smiling, always happy, always pumped up,'' 
     Ihde said. ``There aren't even words to describe what he 
     means to our team. We appreciate what he does. . . . It makes 
     us closer.''
       Asked to describe Jed in one word, 12-year-old teammate 
     Garreth Mayer quickly replied, ``Inspirational. We're happy 
     he's on our team. He's the heart of our team.''
       ``There's a lot more to coaching young kids than wins and 
     losses,'' said tournament director Greg Excel.
       And with determination and opportunity, anything is 
     possible.
       Even three strikeouts from a boy who never pitched a day in 
     his life.

                          ____________________