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Middlebourne Boy Signs With WVU Team

By Staff | Mar 4, 2015

Nicholas Wince gets his own jersey after signing with the West Virginia University Men’s Basketball?Team on Feb. 24. (Photo by WV Illustrated)

The latest recruit to the men’s West Virginia University basketball team can perhaps be credited with the Mountaineers’ 71-64 victory over the Texas Longhorns Feb. 24. Five-year-old Nicholas Wince of Tyler County might be small in stature, but there is no doubt that he is big in spirit-a positive trait that perhaps he passed on to his team-mates.

Nick’s wish to become WVU’s newest basketball player came true thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Nick was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. “It basically means that he was born with only one ventricle of his heart formed,” mother Kristen Wince explains. “Basically he had ‘half of a heart.'” According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year about 906 babies in the United States are born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This calculates to about one out of every 4,344 babies born in the United States is born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Nick went through a series of three open heart surgeries, the first at seven days old, the second at two-and-a-half months old, and the third at two-and-a-half years old. Kristen states that these surgeries were called the Norwood, the Glenn, and the Fontan.

“We were extremely fortunate, because at the time Nick was born, there weren’t many pediatric cardiologists performing these extremely complex surgeries,” Kristen states. “Dr. Victor Morrell at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh did all three of Nick’s surgeries. I just can’t say enough good things about the pediatric cardiology department there.

“We’ve had multiple hospital stays, routine appointments with his pediatric cardiologist, and more heart caths and tests than I can count,” Kristen notes.

Nick visits his cardiologist every six months for heart health checkups.

“Nick loves sports, but will be limited in the amount of high endurance or high impact activities that he will physically be able to handle,” she adds. Besides sports, Kristen states that Nick also loves “fishing with his pappy and playing with our dogs.”

According to Kristen, when he found out about his new position with the Mountaineers, Nick was “extremely excited,” as was his dad, Tommy; and sister, Allie.

Kristen states that Nick’s time with the Mountaineer’s began Monday with bowling and pizza with the Mountaineer’s mascot. The family then went to a meet and greet with WVU President Dr. E. Gordon Gee. From there, Nick was treated to a tour of the college and ride on the PRT transit system. Nick was later given a private tour of the football training center by Quincy Wilson and he was able to join in on some practice activities with the football team. “We finished up the day with ice cream and rock climbing,” Kristen notes.

Kristen states that on Tuesday, Nick and she spoke with the Small Group Communications class, and “Nick and Allie got to participate in a class activity.” The family was then taken by limousine to the coliseum for a press conference, a shoot-around with the basketball team, dinner with the team, “and then the big game!”

Kristen states that Nick was able to go out for warmups with the team, the pre-game players’ meeting with the coaches, met the student athletes that were being presented, and was brought back to the locker room for the team prayer. “Nick also got to take part in the post-game interview with Coach Huggins,” she notes.

WVU President Dr. E. Gordon Gee even gave Nick his very own bow tie, bow tie cookies, and suspenders, while the WVU football team gave Nick a book-bag, hat, and a football signed by the team.

“He had an amazing time,” Kristen says of Nick. “He couldn’t wait to get back to school and show his pictures to his classmates.”

Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia is a non-profit organization that grants wishes to children, aged two to 18, with life-threatening medical conditions. Currently, the organization fulfills wishes for children living with life-threatening medical conditions. “We believe that a wish experience fills our families with hope, strength, and joy,” they say.

The local chapter is one of the most active in the country, having fulfilled more than 16,000 wishes.

For more information, call Make-A-Wish at 800-676-9474 or visit its Web site at greaterpawv.wish.org.