Teen golfer Skylar Friedman is celebrating the hospital that saved his life at birth by raising $700,000 for them.
Friedman, 17, has spent the past two years sponsoring a nationwide putting contest he calls the “100 Putt Challenge” to raise cash for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. So far, he has raised a ton for the place, according to the New York Post.
“They saved me, so it’s my duty to return the favor,” Friedman, 17, told the paper.
The challenge features golfers securing pledges for every putt out of 100 they can sink in one shot, according to a player from the Portledge School varsity golf team.
“If somebody pledges two dollars a putt and hits 80 of them, that’s $160 easily made,” he explains. “People don’t realize how much it adds up.”
The young golf enthusiast says that it is the least he can do for the hospital that found that he suffered from a rare condition while in utero and was able to perform a life-saving operation when he was just 5 months old.
Friedman’s mother had gone to the hospital for an ultrasound to see what gender Skyler was going to be, but the scan revealed that he had a very rare condition when technicians saw a mass forming on the lower lobe of his lung. If left untreated, the condition would have killed him.
“It was supposed to be a happy memory of finding out if I was a boy or a girl,” he said. “It was a very rare condition that I had. So, it was probably the first time they had ever seen it.”
Friedman returns to Philly Children’s several times a year for follow-ups and health checks, and every visit reminds him of how great the hospital is.
“Every time I’ve gone there, I’ve just been struck with how overly kind and caring the doctors and all staff are,” he said.
The warmth he feels for the place spurred the young man to look for ways to raise money so the hospital can continue helping other children like himself.
Now, participants in a dozen states have taken up his putting challenge, and about 1,000 people have joined the challenge just this year alone, Friedman says.
“Giving back, it feels like my purpose. If I can reach one person with my story, then it is all worth it,” the teen said.
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