Without the early intervention that she received at Sewall Child Development Center, Megan Bomgaars might never have had the success that she enjoys today.
The breakout star of A&E’s Emmy award-winning, unscripted docu-series “Born This Way,” has Down syndrome and spent the first two weeks of her life in a hospital intensive care unit.
“We were scared to death and didn’t know what to do,” recalls her mom, Kris, when she and Megan shared their stories at Sewall’s 15th annual Beacon Celebration.
But after hearing about the specialized care offered at Sewall, Kris enrolled her daughter at the age of five weeks.
Her fears about her daughter’s future were allayed by the positive encouragement given by the Sewall therapists. “If we hadn’t had it, our lives would be so much different.”
Megan graduated from Evergreen High School, where she was a member of its nationally ranked cheerleading team, in 2011 and was midway through her freshman year at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs when her YouTube video, “Don’t Limit Me,” went viral and Hollywood beckoned.
Today, Megan and her mother divide their time between Los Angeles and Colorado Springs, where Megan, between speaking engagements and appearances, runs Megology, an online retail business featuring one-of-a-kind, tie-dyed clothing and gifts.
“Born This Way,” Kris said, “changed our lives in ways that we never could have imagined. It also gave the Down syndrome community a powerful platform for advocacy and education.”
“Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do,” declared Marc Kleiner, chairman of the Sewall board of directors. “We want to bring all of our students closer to a life with no limits.”
The Beacon Celebration was chaired by Gretchen Shaffer and Charon L. Earnest and held at the Wellshire Inn.
Guests included four women whose association with Sewall dates back to when Megan first enrolled: Shaffer, who is now a member of the Sewall board, was the agency’s development director; Kathryn Greer and Mary Sue Johnson were on Megan’s early intervention team; and president/CEO Heidi Heissenbuttel was among those who greeted Megan the day her mother brought her in to Sewall’s former location at 1360 Vine St.
Sewall has since moved to new quarters at 940 Fillmore St.
Gene Koelbel, whose family has been involved with Sewall since its start 72 years ago, was there, too, along with her daughter, Lynn Stambaugh, a Sewall board member, and daughter-in-law, Sherri Koelbel.
Others supporting the cause were Mardi Cannon, Jennifer Mandelson, Mary Osborn, Carrie Nolan, Janet Ellis, Cindy Halaby, Maribeth Waldrep and former Denver Bronco Reggie Rivers, the evening’s auctioneer.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, partiwriter@hotmail.com and @joannedavidson on Twitter