Local Kid Captain enjoys Outback Bowl experience

When Prairie City native Gabe Graber was selected to be the University of Iowa Kid Captain for the 2018 bowl game, the Hawkeye football team hadn’t yet qualified for a bowl game and no one knew where that game would be if they did.

Graber was selected as one of 13 Kid Captains for the 2018 season. More than 300 families entered into the selection process.

“We were not sure how the bowl game captain was going to work,” Gabe Graber’s mother Emily said. “Coach Ferentz told us that if they made the championship game, he’d be the Kid Captain for that game.”

The Hawkeyes didn’t advance to the Big Ten Conference championship game. But they did get selected to play in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1.

When the announcement was made, the Graber family was unsure if they’d be attending the game. The University of Iowa made it clear with them that wouldn’t be funding the trip.

“Originally, we weren’t going to go,” Emily Graber said. “But Darin and I made the decision just before Christmas that we were going to go. We surprised the kids on Christmas.”

Darin Graber is Emily’s husband and Gabe’s father. After the decision to attend the game was made, teachers at Gabe’s school — PCM Middle School — decided to put their money together and pay for the family’s tickets to the Outback Bowl.

“That was an indescribable gift,” Darin Graber said. “We have great teachers who care about Gabe. It means a lot to us to know just how much they care.”

It was one of Gabe’s teachers, Rhonda Buys, who talked Emily Graber into nominating Gabe for the Kid Captain in the first place.

“I was surprised when my parents told us we were going,” Gabe Graber said. “I am grateful for the gift from my teachers. It shows that they care about me even when I am not in school.”

Emily Graber had tried several times in past years without much success. The last time she applied, the University of Iowa responded with what turned out to be an experience of a lifetime.

Before attending the bowl game in Tampa, Florida, the Graber was part of Iowa’s annual Kids Day at Kinnick Stadium on Aug. 11.

All 13 Kid Captains were recognized that day, and they got a behind-the-scenes tour of Kinnick Stadium.

All Kid Captains received a commemorative jersey, special recognition from UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital and the Iowa Hawkeyes, a football and several trading cards with their personal information on it.

Emily said the experience on Kids Day started in Iowa’s locker room where all the Kid Captains were joined by one parent and all of Iowa’s senior football players.

The Kid Captains then enter the field with the seniors.

One of the seniors Gabe Graber met on Kids Day was Newton’s own Nick Easley. The two also met again after the bowl game. Gabe got his picture taken with the Outback Bowl MVP as well as other Iowa players, including A.J. Epenesa.

The Kid Captain program is a partnership that began in 2009 between UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital and the Iowa Hawkeyes to honor pediatric patients and celebrate their inspirational stories.

Now in its 10th year, the program is open to any current or former UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital patient 18 years of age or younger. Only parents or legal guardians may nominate their child.

Gabe Graber qualified to be a Kid Captain because he’s been a patient at the hospital since birth. He was born with Congenital Heart Disease with a double inlet left ventricle.

That last part means his right ventricle didn’t develop and doctors don’t expect it to ever develop. Then Emily and Darin Graber were told to expect a series of three surgeries.​

Darin was familiar with the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital and wanted to move all care from their hospital in Des Moines to Iowa City, according to Emily.

“It was devastating news. We were concerned right away and it ruins the pregnancy because you are so worried about what is going to happen with all the surgeries and stuff,” Emily said.

Doctors expected Gabe to have a surgery at birth, another at six months and then a final one when around the age of 4.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of Gabe’s inspirational story.

He suffered a stroke in 2007 at age 2 1/2 during recovery from the second surgery. A blood clot traveled to his brain and it paralyzed his right side. That happens once a year so it was very abnormal, according to Emily.

Fast forward to 2015 and another surgery came after Gabe started having seizures in fourth grade. Seizures are a side effect of CHD. His last seizure came in March of 2017.

Gabe is currently doing well, according to Emily. He can’t open his left hand and may never be able to. Other than that, he lives a relatively normal life.

CHD affects one in every 100 births, which is fairly common. His particular defect is closer to one in 10,000 births and then to have the stroke happen on top of that, is even more rare.

“He’s our lottery winner,” Emily said.

The Graber family includes four other children. Garrett is the oldest and is a sophomore at PCM High School. Gabe is in eighth grade at the middle school. Riley, Selah and Blakely round out the bunch.

The trip to the Outback Bowl included Gabe, his parents and brothers Garrett and Riley.

It was a short three-day trip, but it was an experience Gabe will never forget.

“I have never seen a bowl game before so that was a lot of fun,” Gabe said.

The family left for Tampa, Florida, on the Monday before the bowl game and arrived that afternoon. They landed at 2 p.m., and the Hawkeye Huddle was at 3 p.m.

Emily said Gabe would have been recognized at the Hawkeye Huddle, but the family didn’t make it in time because of their travel schedule. So they went to Clearwater Beach instead.

Gabe’s birthday was the same day the Hawkeyes defeated Mississippi State in the Outback Bowl. Before the game, the Graber family tailgated in one of the big grass lots outside Raymond James Stadium, met their cardiologist Dr. Ian Law before the game and went into the stadium early to watch warmups.

“Gabe had a blast, and all three boys were shocked when we told them we were going,” Emily said. “I am so glad we went. It was an unforgettable trip.”

Before the game kicked off, the Graber family met up with University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld and his wife Mary. They set up a meeting before hand, and the Harreld’s delivered a care package prepared by the university that included lots of Hawkeye merchandise.

“We had great seats,” Emily Graber said. “They were in the shade, too. It was a blast, and it’s even better when the Hawkeyes win.”

The family stayed almost an extra full day, deciding to go back to Clearwater Beach before their flight home took off later that evening.

Emily and Darin are lifelong Hawkeye fans. Gabe was born at 5 a.m. on Jan. 1. Several hours later, they watched Drew Tate hit Warren Holloway for the game-winning touchdown as time expired in the famous Capital One bowl.

The couple went to an Iowa basketball game the night before and Emily went into labor at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I was having contractions at the game, but we finished the game and then went across the street to the hospital,” Emily said. “I had him early on Jan. 1. He went to the NICU and we were in my room. The Capital One bowl was on the TV. LSU had just scored that late TD to go ahead, and Darin said he was leaving and going to sit with Gabe. I had to talk him into staying for the ending.

“One of his friends even texted him to tell him that it wasn’t too late to change Gabe’s name to Tate or Drew or something involving the game. We stayed with Gabe Benjamin.”