On Saturday April 12th, 2003 Bill Walton, former Blazer player and current ESPN/ABC analyst and commentator, made a special visit to some extraordinary children.

Before commentating on the Blazers v. Lakers game on Sunday April 13th, Walton took time out from his weekend in Portland to visit and bring cheer to children at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene and Doernbecher’s Children Hospital in Portland.

The trip was in conjunction with National Youth Service Day and a program begun two years ago by the Blazers and one of their sponsors, Oil Can Henry's. This is the third year that Oil Can Henry's and the Blazers have teamed up to promote National Youth Service Day by sending a Trail Blazer to visit children in the hospital. But this was the first time a former Blazer was selected.

"We just kind of enhanced the whole thing with Bill this year," said Kerry Nelson, the Trail Blazers client services manager.
“Walton's fame and stellar reputation, along with his love of children and his engaging speaking style, seemed a no-brainer”, Nelson said. Walton led Oregon's only professional sports franchise to a National Basketball Association championship in 1977.

The day was fantastic. Walton and Blazers representatives visited Sacred Heart hospital in Eugene first. Bill answered several questions for the media before spending an hour and a half with the children.

As you can imagine, many of the parents were even more awed by Walton then the kids since they were familiar with Bill during his playing days. "Oh, it's really exciting," said Leticia Morales, Linda Morales' mother, of Walton's visit. "We watch the Blazers all the time, but (Linda) doesn't really understand who this guy is."

However, it did not take long for the children to recognize that they were receiving a special visit. Besides his towering height of 6’11’’, his engaging and warm personality won the children over. "You're getting released today?" the 6-foot-11-inch Walton asked 7-year-old Linda Castellanos, a first-grader at Patterson Elementary School in Eugene. "That is so cool. Give me five."

Linda, recently diagnosed with a disease that causes swelling in the walls of the arteries, weak-voiced and timid, slowly accepted the red-headed doll. Walton spent 30 minutes of his hour-long visit to the hospital in Linda's room, letting the child warm to him.

"This is a special artifact," Walton said gently, handing Linda one of the bobblehead dolls. "Digging around in an old building, they found this at an old grave site."

After meeting with the children, handing out Bill Walton Bobbleheads and signing autographs, Walton then visited Doernbecker’s Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Walton visited children in the Cancer department and then the Pediatric ICU Unit. Again, Bill was very nurturing, friendly and absolutely great to these children. The day ended as all great days do, with warm memories and many smiles.

Walton talked about the "sense of loneliness, that sense of lost hope," that can overcome you when you lie in a hospital bed for days.

"This is really what my life is all about," he said of visiting sick children in the hospital. "My dreams have come true. But what about these young people who have done nothing wrong, but by a simple twist of fate, have ended up here?

"This is really the best part of my life, to be able to be with these young people, to speak of hope and optimism, to give them just a spark so they can go out and chase their dreams, too."


Click here to view a photo gallery of Bill Walton's Hospital Tour!