Post by Kayn on Dec 10, 2007 16:11:32 GMT -5
Posted on the1xwa.net, taken from “The Seattle Tribune”.
While many people in the world consider the professional wrestling industry fake, there are few things about it that are very real. There are career ending injuries, there are friendships that are made between characters that on screen are at each other’s throats, and in this case, there is a real hero. Today one of the XWA’s top superstars, Kayn, received an award for all the time he has volunteered assisting terminally ill or handicap children in a joint effort by the staff at Seattle’s University of Seattle Children’s Hospital and the board of directors at the "Dream Come True" foundation. Kayn, born Kayn Xavier Efferson, has spent most of his free time between the “Dream Come True” foundation and coming to the hospital on his own to spend time with the children.
“It is my honor and privilege to award you this small token of our appreciation for your work with not only the children in this pediatric wing now, but also on behalf of all the children you have made smile in your over 7 years of volunteering your time with us here and the 5 years you have volunteered with ‘Dream Come True’.” said Dr. Randolph Larson, head pediatrician at the U of Seattle Children’s Hospital, during his speech at the award ceremony which was held recently in the U of Seattle Children's Hospital. When asked after the award ceremony, Dr. Larson had this to add about Kayn. “I’ve known Kayn since he was a child and he would always be getting treated for cuts and broken bones from helping people, so to see him now getting this award is no surprise to me. He was a volunteer here for years before he became involved with the ‘Dream Come True’ foundation and to honor him today is like giving an award to one of my children.”
”The ‘Dream Come True’ foundation has been privileged to have worked with an amazing human being like Kayn. Anytime someone asks me to define the word ‘Generous’ to them, without hesitation I reply ‘Kayn Efferson’.” said Betty Jassny, a representative from the “Dream Come True” foundation, during a portion of her speech. ”Over the past 5 years that he has been working with us, we have asked him to go from one side of the country to the other and then back and not once did he refuse the request, and I think that he never would as long as he was physically and mentally capable of making the trip. I have a story that I would like to share with you all, and it’s one that I share with people when they want to know what kind of person Kayn is. I remember once a few years ago we asked him to visit some children in New York, and unbeknown to us Kayn had broken his arm just days before. Without a thought he was on the next plane out and spent a whole day with the children, even though most people would have found it extremely painful. After he returned from the visit I had asked him ‘Why did you go to New York if you just broke your arm?’ and he responded ‘Because I wanted to see how many signatures I could get on my cast.’” As the crowd laughs at the story, it does give a small insight to the dedication of the man that is known in the wrestling community as “The Death Metal Goliath”.
“You know, while it’s nice to be honored with this award here today, I have already been given something that is more meaningful to me than this and that’s the smile on every single child’s face that allowed me to spend some of their precious time with them.” Kayn said in his acceptance speech, which he seemed to be speaking from the heart. “I appreciate everything that the ‘Dream Come True’ foundation and U of Seattle Children’s Hospital have done and I will continue to work with them as long as they will let me.”
After his acceptance speech I got a chance to catch up with the 26 year old, 7’2”, over 320 lbs man that has been an XWA fan favorite since he debuted early this year to ask the burning question on what motivates him to volunteer his free time. “A hospital is a scary place when you’re a kid. You’re away from your family, your friends and you really feel horrified, especially since most of these kids will spend most of their young lives in these hospital rooms. None of these kids asked to have terminal illnesses or be born with a physical disability that will keep them here. I feel that any little bit of time I can spend with them to help them see that there’s no reason to be afraid or to give up the fight can be more helpful more than anything anyone can try to tell them.”
After the award ceremony, Kayn and Dr. Larson took a tour of the hospital, with Kayn dropping in on as many children as time allowed. ”I’ll admit, it’s exhausting doing all the traveling between ‘Dream Come True’ and XWA, but at the end of the day I have a sense of pride and accomplishment with all this work.” said Kayn after finishing with the tour. Kayn said that over his season end break with the XWA he will still be volunteering as much time as he can while training and getting ready for his sophomore season in the XWA.[/i]
-Andrew Benson, Seattle Tribune
While many people in the world consider the professional wrestling industry fake, there are few things about it that are very real. There are career ending injuries, there are friendships that are made between characters that on screen are at each other’s throats, and in this case, there is a real hero. Today one of the XWA’s top superstars, Kayn, received an award for all the time he has volunteered assisting terminally ill or handicap children in a joint effort by the staff at Seattle’s University of Seattle Children’s Hospital and the board of directors at the "Dream Come True" foundation. Kayn, born Kayn Xavier Efferson, has spent most of his free time between the “Dream Come True” foundation and coming to the hospital on his own to spend time with the children.
“It is my honor and privilege to award you this small token of our appreciation for your work with not only the children in this pediatric wing now, but also on behalf of all the children you have made smile in your over 7 years of volunteering your time with us here and the 5 years you have volunteered with ‘Dream Come True’.” said Dr. Randolph Larson, head pediatrician at the U of Seattle Children’s Hospital, during his speech at the award ceremony which was held recently in the U of Seattle Children's Hospital. When asked after the award ceremony, Dr. Larson had this to add about Kayn. “I’ve known Kayn since he was a child and he would always be getting treated for cuts and broken bones from helping people, so to see him now getting this award is no surprise to me. He was a volunteer here for years before he became involved with the ‘Dream Come True’ foundation and to honor him today is like giving an award to one of my children.”
”The ‘Dream Come True’ foundation has been privileged to have worked with an amazing human being like Kayn. Anytime someone asks me to define the word ‘Generous’ to them, without hesitation I reply ‘Kayn Efferson’.” said Betty Jassny, a representative from the “Dream Come True” foundation, during a portion of her speech. ”Over the past 5 years that he has been working with us, we have asked him to go from one side of the country to the other and then back and not once did he refuse the request, and I think that he never would as long as he was physically and mentally capable of making the trip. I have a story that I would like to share with you all, and it’s one that I share with people when they want to know what kind of person Kayn is. I remember once a few years ago we asked him to visit some children in New York, and unbeknown to us Kayn had broken his arm just days before. Without a thought he was on the next plane out and spent a whole day with the children, even though most people would have found it extremely painful. After he returned from the visit I had asked him ‘Why did you go to New York if you just broke your arm?’ and he responded ‘Because I wanted to see how many signatures I could get on my cast.’” As the crowd laughs at the story, it does give a small insight to the dedication of the man that is known in the wrestling community as “The Death Metal Goliath”.
“You know, while it’s nice to be honored with this award here today, I have already been given something that is more meaningful to me than this and that’s the smile on every single child’s face that allowed me to spend some of their precious time with them.” Kayn said in his acceptance speech, which he seemed to be speaking from the heart. “I appreciate everything that the ‘Dream Come True’ foundation and U of Seattle Children’s Hospital have done and I will continue to work with them as long as they will let me.”
After his acceptance speech I got a chance to catch up with the 26 year old, 7’2”, over 320 lbs man that has been an XWA fan favorite since he debuted early this year to ask the burning question on what motivates him to volunteer his free time. “A hospital is a scary place when you’re a kid. You’re away from your family, your friends and you really feel horrified, especially since most of these kids will spend most of their young lives in these hospital rooms. None of these kids asked to have terminal illnesses or be born with a physical disability that will keep them here. I feel that any little bit of time I can spend with them to help them see that there’s no reason to be afraid or to give up the fight can be more helpful more than anything anyone can try to tell them.”
After the award ceremony, Kayn and Dr. Larson took a tour of the hospital, with Kayn dropping in on as many children as time allowed. ”I’ll admit, it’s exhausting doing all the traveling between ‘Dream Come True’ and XWA, but at the end of the day I have a sense of pride and accomplishment with all this work.” said Kayn after finishing with the tour. Kayn said that over his season end break with the XWA he will still be volunteering as much time as he can while training and getting ready for his sophomore season in the XWA.[/i]
-Andrew Benson, Seattle Tribune
