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Teen urges others to pay it forward

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By Deirdre Cox Baker | Friday, October 12, 2007 | 3 comment(s)

“You’ll get through this,” 16-year-old John Blough said encouragingly to Taylor Thomas-Sloan, also 16, who has spent the past few months in the hospital as she fights to overcome a brain aneurism.

Blough, now a strapping sophomore at Assumption High School in Davenport, was hospitalized two years ago when he severely injured his liver.

On Thursday, he launched a “pay-it-forward” project and visited patients, including Thomas-Sloan, at Genesis Medical Center-West Central Park, Davenport, presenting each with a Whitey’s Ice Cream gift certificate.

Thomas-Sloan is a junior at Davenport North High School who has been recovering since August from the aneurism. She wears a helmet and rides in a wheelchair. Her hospital room features pretty pink accents and dozens of balloons.

On March 11, 2005, Blough was playing touch football at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School in Davenport. He slammed hard into a hand railing on the playground, a collision that caused internal injuries. He had surgery on St. Patrick’s Day and spent two weeks in the hospital and several months recovering from it.

Blough’s classmates and friends gave him about $150 in Whitey’s Ice Cream gift certificates while he was hospitalized. “He had lost 20 pounds, and it’s hard to get the weight back,” his mother, Beth Blough, explained. The Bloughs spent two months making daily Whitey’s visits while the teenager tried every available flavor of ice cream.

In October, Blough’s youth group at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church committed to a “pay it forward” project. Each member received $50 and was asked to make the money go even farther for the recipients.

Blough made his arrangements through Genesis. He visited patients at the hospital’s infusion center, explained his personal story and the project to each one and then offered the $5 certificates.

All of the recipients were appreciative. “I’m a big fan of Whitey’s,” Larry Grutzmacher of Bettendorf said.

Thomas-Sloan told Blough she works at Whitey’s while he pulled up his shirt to show her the large scar left by his surgery. She said she plans to purchase her favorite treat with the unexpected gift: Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

Deirdre Cox Baker can be contacted at (563) 383-2492 or dbaker@qctimes.com.