GREENVILLE – Because 11-year-old Karson Garno agreed to share his story on My County Link a couple of weeks ago, life has changed somewhat for him.
For those who didn’t read the article, it told of Karson’s success at baseball and other sports in which he participates. What makes his story special is that he was born with Symbrachydactyly, a congenital hand anomaly, that affects his fingers on his left hand.
However, he doesn’t let that stop him. Today, he is playing all types of sports, especially baseball of which he is pitcher and first baseman for the Arcanum 12U team. And, he’s one of the standouts.
Quite a few people have said they received inspiration after reading his story, one of them was Clinton Randall, the Webmaster & Reporter at My County Link.
He wanted to do something special for Karson, and the family was invited to the My County Link office, where he received a gift from Clinton. He presented Karson two 1988 Jim Abbott rookie baseball cards.
Why Jim Abbott? Because he too succeeded in baseball with a deformity. Now retired, he is a motivational speaker. Despite his condition, Abbott was named Big 10 Player of the Year in 1988, before being drafted in the first round of Major League Baseball.
“It is an honor to give Karson two of my Jim Abbott rookie cards,” Clinton remarked. “After l learned about his condition, I was inspired and I quickly pulled out all of my old baseball card collection and was pleased to find I had several Jim Abbott cards. Karson is an inspiration to a lot of people and, after reading his story, he is one of my inspirations.”
After also learning Karson is a huge Reds fan, Clinton sent a copy of the article to the Cincinnati Reds front office, and now Karson and his parents, Patrick and Megan, and younger brother Josh have been invited to the Great American Ball Park on May 28 to meet the players during batting practice and also received complimentary tickets to the game as well.
His father said if it rains that day, Reds officials will take them on a tour through the stadium.
His father, Patrick, used to go to Reds games, because his father had season tickets, so there were free passes to the games.
“We always got to sit behind home plate,” Patrick said.
The Garnos also attended a Dayton Dragons game the night before he received Randall’s Jim Abbott card, having received free tickets through a promotion.
During the meeting at My County Link office, Clinton and Karson found out they have something in common…both are Michigan fans. Ironically, that is where Jim Abbott played during his college years of baseball.
Here is what Megan shared on Facebook after Clinton’s kind gesture:
“We have some BIG news. Karson got the opportunity today to meet up with Clinton Randall and Linda. Karson was given two Topps Jim Abbott baseball cards from Clinton. What an awesome gift and wonderful people!! But here’s the big news …because of Karson’s story and Clinton researching and sending them the article, Karson has been invited to go down and get the opportunity to practice with the Cincinnati Reds and watch the game. We are so very proud of him and so excited for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. Because of Karson’s story and Clinton researching and sending them the article, Karson has been invited to go down and get the opportunity to practice with the Cincinnati Reds and watch the game. We are so very proud of him and so excited for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.”
