‘I am a kid at heart.’ What Valley Children’s Hospital means to the Raiders’ Derek Carr
Valley Children’s Hospital means a lot to Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, and the feeling is mutual from the Madera County hospital.
The partnership between Carr and Valley Children’s started in 2013 as he was approaching his last season at Fresno State. Derek’s and wife Heather’s firstborn, Dallas, needed three surgeries because of an intestinal complication and stayed in the Valley Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit for more than three weeks.
Today, Dallas is a healthy 7-year-old and Derek and Heather are forever grateful to the Valley Children’s staff.
“Valley Children’s means the world to our family,” Carr said. “Every single day I wake up and see Dallas healthy and happy, I think about the entire medical staff at Valley Children’s who saved his precious life. It is hard to describe in words.”
The Carrs give back to the hospital they care for, helping on projects or visiting patients to give them encouraging words.
Valley Children’s President and CEO Todd Suntrapak recalls a particular interaction between Carr and an 8-year-old boy.
“Derek spent a day and a half just visiting kids that were in-patients,” Suntrapak said. “We provided the young boy a signed cap and football. The young boy looks up at Derek and cares less about the football angle and asks, ‘Do you want to play Playstation?’ Derek said yes. Derek spent 45 minutes, maybe more, playing Playstation with this boy and this particular boy happened to be in our oncology unit.”
Suntrapak said he and staff heard something that warmed their hearts.
“For the first time in days we all heard laughter coming out of that room. We left them alone to have their time. Just hearing his laughter pealing from this child’s room for the first time in days.”
After Carr moved on to visit others in the hospital, the boy’s nurse asked her patient if he knew who he had just spent time playing with, and the boy said no.
“This boy had no idea Derek was a starting NFL quarterback,” Suntrapak said. “That is who we know him to be and see him to be and get to experience because he brings that to every interaction with our patients and staff.”
While Carr couldn’t make the trip to the central San Joaquin Valley in 2020 to visit with patients at the hospital because of COVID-19, he still found a way to connect using FaceTime, text and video messages.
“He’s never far away from the children and the staff,” Suntrapak said. “I’m not getting to the financial support he provides on special projects. We view him as our team. We’re very grateful and appreciative and blessed for that.”
Carr’s contributions to VCH
The DC4Kids Touchdown Challenge was established in 2016, a campaign that funds immediate needs at Valley Children’s Hospital.
For every Carr touchdown pass or rushing touchdown, participants pledge $100 to DC4KIDS. At the end of each season, participants make a single donation based on the total touchdowns.
To date, DC4Kids has raised more than $500,000 and totaled $70,000 for the 2020 season.
Also, Derek and older brother David Carr put together “Inside the Huddle” meet-and-greet events, first in Modesto then Fresno, as another fundraiser.
“We work closely with Valley Children’s Foundation,” Carr said. “We are also working closely with the Guilds Center for Community Health with a few exciting projects we have underway. Their focus is to keep kids healthy where they live, learn and play. I love that. I am a kid at heart and love sports and playing with my kids. I pray and hope all the kids in the Central Valley have these same opportunities. That is why working with the Guilds is important to me. All these incredible groups working at the grassroots level to help improve kids’ lives throughout the Central Valley is critical and needed.”
Carr added, “I miss my visits to the hospital and meeting with patients. I look forward to meeting kids once it is safe.”
Carr meeting with staff
Carr often gets to speak to the 300-strong hospital leadership team. He recently met with the team through Zoom.
“I always enjoy speaking to leadership and engaging with the current happenings at Valley Children’s,” Carr said. “I have a wonderful relationship with Todd Suntrapak, as well as many of the doctors, nurses and staff. From that conversation, I took away how amazing that organization is. Even during COVID, wildfires, political strife, school closures, their team managed to win national awards and also ensure their own employees were taken care of.
“Everything they do is with their patients in mind and always providing the best care. I guess I was just humbled by the enormity of the tasks they have had to endure and yet came away as still the best in the country.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 12:01 AM.
