Visit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation online at cff.org to find out how you can help the Provencher family and others in their battle against cystic fibrosis. Among the many fundraising activities of the foundation are upcoming Great Strides walks in Northern California and throughout the country. The Provencher family and friends organize and participate in the events as part of the Goin’ for Owen team.
By Kyle McRae, Cal Athletic Communications
When Cal football players were preparing for the upcoming 2015 season this winter by arriving well before the sun rose for their offseason conditioning program at California Memorial Stadium, six-year old Owen Provencher and his parents, Gary and Heidi, were already awake and making an even more important investment in prolonging his young life.
The first-grader at Westlake Charter School in the northwestern Sacramento community of Natomas was born with cystic fibrosis, a progressive disease that causes thick mucus to continually form throughout his body. Serious digestive and respiratory problems are two of the primary complications, with the immediate effects serious enough to typically put Owen in the hospital a few times a year and the long-term issues contributing to a shortened live span.
“If Owen was born when I was he probably would not have even made it to kindergarten,” Gary said. “But now people with cystic fibrosis are living into their 30’s and 40’s, and even their 50’s and 60’s.”
In an effort to reduce the hospital visits that he has been able to avoid for the last 18 months, Owen has undergone therapy nearly every day of his existence. His days normally begin at 5:30 a.m., with the first of a series of daily treatments including but not limited to inhaled medications and a vest that he uses with a machine that basically beats his chest for about 20 minutes in an attempt to break up the thick mucus that forms in his lungs. When he gets home from school, it’s back to more therapy and treatments before he does anything else.
“The daily grind is unimaginable for these kids,” said Gary. “You don’t get Christmas off. You don’t get New Year’s off. You don’t get vacations off.”
Owen and his family may not get any days off but they are able to occasionally enjoy special ones like the one Owen recently spent with members of the Cal football team.
Gary, a 2003 Cal graduate, had seen one of the team’s social media posts about “The Bear Cut”, an addition to the team’s locker room amenities, and immediately knew that he needed to get a trip to Berkeley together for his son.
“This kid is all about haircuts and sports, so it was perfect,” Gary said.
Gary’s mother, Erin, got on the horn and eventually reached Cal’s Director of Equipment David Moosman, who invited Owen to visit the campus.
“He said to come on down and get a haircut and maybe a jersey,” Gary recalled.
The trip turned out to be much more as Owen spent several hours with the Bears; meeting head coach Sonny Dykes, star quarterback Jared Goff and several other players, coaches and staff members.
Owen also hit the field to throw the ball around with Goff, fellow quarterback Chase Forrest and linebacker Raymond Davison. His other activities included a tour of the locker room, hanging out and playing video games in the players’ lounge, lifting a few weights, and making the coveted visit to the team’s barbershop.
“It was way above and beyond anything we’d expected,” Gary said before emphasizing the importance of days like this in his family’s life. “Cystic fibrosis is always on our mind. There have been two times in my life that I have seen Owen when he was not even thinking about it and one of those was when he was out on the field at Cal. Having days like that where you can remove him from his everyday grind and put him in a situation where he’s just a normal kid having fun, as parents that is about as good as it can get.”
“He could have played catch with me all day,” Goff said with a smile. “It was really cool to see that he had no care in the world besides just going out there and having fun.”
What did Owen think of it?
“It was really awesome,” he said.
“Before we arrived at Cal he asked if we thought he could step on the football field,” Heidi added. “To be given the opportunity to actually do that and play catch with Jared Goff was beyond his wildest imagination.”
The entire family is thankful for all of the attention Owen was given.
“My favorite thing was just watching Owen’s interactions with the guys and seeing them crowd around him and start jumping up and down when he was lifting weights,” Gary said. “It was that way everywhere he went – on the field, in the players’ lounge, in the locker room. They were just so into having Owen there and making him feel like a part of the team. It was awesome.”
And the effect that Owen’s trip to Cal has had upon the youngster has lasted long beyond his afternoon visit.
“Once we got home it was football all the time,” Gary said. “He was sleeping in his jersey and he still wears it. He’s always playing football now. He’s excited for the season to start and will pay attention to every single guy on the team. He remembers everybody that he met.”
“It was really special to see the care and time both the players and staff took with Owen,” Heidi added. “They made him feel really special.”
The grind will continue for Owen and his family in the fight against cystic fibrosis, and even though Goff and his Cal teammates can’t be there in Natomas every morning for the 5:30 a.m. therapy sessions the memories and motivation they have provided for the entire family is critical.
“Not only did he get to meet some incredible people that he considers friends, he also saw the benefits of positive sports and nutrition choices in your life,” Heidi emphasized. “This is something I cannot stress enough. Owen has always loved organized sports, but instilling the importance of nutrition has been a struggle. Seeing the guys lifting weights, working out and drinking nutritional drinks has definitely impacted his life, as Owen has always imitated his favorite athletes down to the smallest details. This lesson is something that could very much save his life.”
“It’s really cool to get a chance to make a difference in someone’s life,” Goff said. “Hopefully it will have an impact on him.”
In addition to providing Owen with great moments like the day he spent with members of the Cal football team, Gary and Heidi believe their battle against cystic fibrosis will pay off in the long run for Owen and so many others. The family is very active in the Sacramento chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in hopes of raising awareness about the disease and funds to help find more effective treatments and eventually a cure.
“We are completely open to talking about Owen’s condition,” Gary said. “The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation receives no federal funding at all, so we need to do everything we can to get cystic fibrosis out there in the public eye and let people know about it.”
The good news for Owen and others with the disease is that great strides have been made in the battle. Even though there is still no known cure there is hope on the horizon and Gary believes medical professionals are zoning in on it.
“All of what Owen is doing right now is just to get the mucus out of him and get him working properly but it’s not fixing his underlying defect, that’s still progressing and getting worse,” Gary explained. “But soon he might be on some medications that might actually be fixing him. There is a drug called Kalydeco that’s actually fixing the underlying genetic defect in one of the mutations and there’s another one that’s supposed to come out this July called Lumacaftor that targets the mutation Owen has. If that works he may be on medications by the end of the year that may actually start making him better.”
That should make it pretty easy for Owen and his parents to keep waking up every day at 5:30 a.m.
