Teen dedicates Eagle Scout project to Shriner's Hospital after treatments

Teen dedicates Eagle Scout project to Shriner's Hospital after treatments

(Aneisa Phelps)


8 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

BOUNTIFUL — After receiving treatment at Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Salt Lake City for more than a decade, a Bountiful teen decided to “give something back” and dedicate his Eagle Scout project to the hospital.

Jensen Phelps, 16, was born with Charge Syndrome, a rare disorder that affects multiple organ systems with the most common being cranial nerve defects. His mother, Aneisa Phelps, said he has half of a vertebrae on his spine and is missing several ribs, resulting in severe scoliosis.

As a result, Jensen has been going to Shriner’s Hospital for treatments since he was 3 years old and has undergone 25 surgeries, Aneisa Phelps said. He wore a back brace for four years prior to his most recent surgery at Shriner’s Hospital in August 2014.

“I had to go get surgery there and was in the hospital for awhile,” Jensen said. “And I just wanted to give something back to them… I decided that I wanted to make bags of blocks for the kids to take home.”

Jensen decided to create the toys for his Eagle Scout project. Aneisa Phelps said he spent more than 100 hours making about 1,000 wooden stacking blocks, 38 drawstring bags and 38 fleece blankets for the patients to play with in their hospital room and to give them something to take home.

Jensen finished making all the toys and blankets in early June and delivered them to Shriner’s Hospital on June 17.

“I really enjoy seeing the kids brighten up because most of the time they look pretty sad,” Jensen said. “There was a little girl that we delivered some to and her face just kind of lit up as I gave her the bag. It had ‘Frozen’ on it and she had the biggest smile on her face.”

Shriner’s Hospital for Children-Salt Lake City public relations manager Dawn Wright said they really appreciate the public’s generosity towards the hospital.

“I think providing a gift to kids is one of those ways that we can lift the kids’ spirits and make this hospital not feel like a hospital,” she said. “We love the community being involved and it’s a neat thing seeing kids helping kids.”

Jensen has another surgery scheduled for August 10 and hopes to receive his Eagle Scout award shortly after.

Aneisa Phelps

Photos

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahUplifting
Faith Heaton Jolley

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast