By Kay Quinn
St. Louis (KSDK) - Here's a story that brings whole new meaning to the term "play date."
Eleven children from eight different countries had lunch and hung out at a home in Richmond Heights Tuesday morning.
They all come from different cultures, but there all here with one common goal in mind.
"My father bought me and my sister a bike and she could ride it but I could not," said Aziel August, a 14-year-old from Belize.
It's his dream to ride a bike. So doctors in St. Louis are straightening his legs. Something that will take months, and is made possible by the World Pediatric Project. ''
Each and every one of the 11 children have similar stories.
They were born with a treatable condition, but in a country with no hospitals or doctors to help them.
"It was terrible," says Melissa Santos-Almario, mother of 22-month-old Carlos, through an interpreter.
Melissa and her son are from Colombia. But doctors in St. Louis have put Carlos in a body cast, a big step towards straightening his spine. It's a gift she could barely imagine when he was born.
"I am so happy to see him walking normally," said Melissa. "Before he would have trouble moving his legs and I'm just so happy he's walking the way he's walking now."
It was clear that in the simple moments, where the moms made empanadas and kids played, what was really developing here is a deep love for St. Louis, where dreams of a healthy life come true.
"During the world series, my phone was ringing off the hook from all different countries," recalled Kathy Corbett, executive director of the World Pediatric Project. "People were calling me, and they didn't know the name of the baseball players here, but they knew their physicians were from St. Louis and that was one of the most incredible things. That we're this global center for care and they knew their favorite wonderful doctor."
All of the children here now will all return home one day, but they will never forget our home.
"I love it here!" said Aziel.
For more information on the World Pediatric Project, click here.
KSDK