SOUTH JORDAN — Cole James Spencer is a typical 4-year-old. He's happy to slide down the stairs, with his shiny, blond hair flying, just to say "hi." He can make a fort out of the couch pillows to hide in when he gets tired of a reporter's questions. He blows bubbles, loves playing with his five siblings (four brothers and a sister), enjoys digging in the sandbox and can move quickly around in his pint-size wheelchair. And of course, he thrives on attention.
Cole is also this year's poster child — quite literally — for the 2018 Festival of Trees, an example of a child with physical challenges who doesn't let anything stop him from being friendly and busy.
"He's a character," said Joann Spencer, Cole's mother. "We'll be out and he'll just choose a guy and tell me, 'I want to go say hi' and off he'll go. And it's usually not someone you'd expect a child to befriend."
Cole's natural openness and positivity made him a logical choice to represent the Festival of Trees, which exists to help raise money for Primary Children’s Hospital. It helped, too, that Cole's family lives nearby to Shona Peterson, the Festival of Trees co-chair.
"Joann's my neighbor," Peterson said in a recent interview. "I suggested Cole. I just thought he'd be a great representative of what we're doing as a festival."
Peterson, one of the festival's some 33,000 volunteers, has a grandchild who required an innovative surgery as an infant so she feels a closeness to families like the Spencers.
When Joann Spencer was pregnant with Cole, she went in for her 20-week ultrasound and discovered the child she was carrying had potential physical problems. Doctors diagnosed Cole with spina bifida and hydrocephalus while still in the womb, and Spencer underwent fetal surgery, spending a month in a hospital in San Francisco. Cole was born early and spent his first two months in the University of Utah Hospital.
Since then, Mark and Joann Spencer have visited the Primary Children's Medical Center every two weeks after that to ensure their son is still doing well, staying in close touch with his doctors to make certain nothing changes that could slow his progress.
"That first year was pretty rough," said Joann Spencer. "We're still always on the watch for things. It's like a mystery game, finding out what works and what doesn't.
"We're really blessed to have Primary Children's right here. We do totally benefit from the music therapy, the spina bifida Clinic and there's a playroom he likes."
The Spencers aren't the only family who have found the resources at Primary Children's helpful. Now in its 48th year, the Festival of Trees raises money each year to help provide care and treatment for Primary Children's patients who can't afford it. Cole's parents are on a Medicaid waiver so fortunately for the family, his expenses are covered, but each year Primary Children's spends over $18.8 million to cover hospital care for children in need.
That first year was pretty rough. It's like a mystery game, finding out what works and what doesn't. – Joann Spencer
Last year, the festival, considered the largest in-door display of decorated Christmas trees in the world, raised $2.7 million through the efforts of the volunteers and donors, who contribute decorated trees, goodies, handmade gifts and their time. Over 100,000 attendees visited the event.
"There's a lot of need. We bring (in) as much as we can," Peterson said. "It's just a good thing in the world."
At 4½, Cole still has challenges ahead. He's mobile in his wheelchair, able to crawl and learning to walk with braces, and attends therapy twice a week plus two preschools — one for special needs children and one in his neighborhood.
As the festival's poster boy, he has attended public events and participated in the annual telethon held in May. As often as he's able, he goes out to support the festival.
"It's an incredible opportunity," said Joann Spencer.
Next year will mean kindergarten for the active boy, where his mother plans to enroll him in a mainstream class. Although he's still very young, Cole shows no signs of slowing down, a wonder not lost on his mother.
"He's a miracle for our family," she said.
If you go …
What: Festival of Trees
When: Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 10 a.m-9 p.m.
Where: Mountain America Expo Center, 9575 State, Sandy
Tickets: $7 for adults, $4 for children, $6 for seniors
Website: festivaloftreesutah.org