Our son, Luke Michael Hadley, was born 6 weeks prematurely on August 20, 2006.  We learned within 2 weeks that Luke had an extremely rare chromosome disorder called Ring 14.  He was one of 65 documented cases worldwide.  Due to the rarity of Ring 14, the physicians and geneticists were not able to tell us very much about Luke's future, but we decided immediately that we were going to give him the very best life he could possibly have.  Luke had many struggles, more than the doctors had anticipated, and he spent a significant amount of time in the hospital.  Always at Luke's side, we saw so many children who had challenges of their own, but with no one to love them and make their hospital days as happy as they could be.  Sadly, Luke passed away on October 30, 2008, at the age of 2.  We are comforted knowing that we did what we set out to do and gave him the best quality of life possible while he was here.  He would want us to do the same for children in a similar situation. 

We feel so blessed to have had Luke in our lives.  He taught us the true meaning of unconditional love and sacrifice.  He displayed such courage and strength, despite the odds against him.  Although each day brought some sort of battle for Luke, he never quit smiling.  In fact, he smiled more than anyone we have ever known, and we want to bring those smiles to other children who need them.