Keith Urban Shares Sweet Moment With Young Fan Born With Brain Condition [Watch]
Keith Urban shared a very special moment with a 6-year-old fan at a show in Peoria, Ill., on Friday, Nov. 4.
The singer was performing when he spotted a family in the front row, with a young boy sitting atop his dad's shoulders. Urban stopped the show to chat with the family, and the parents introduced themselves as Whitney Donaldson and Chase Hammock of Monticello, Ill. They also introduced their 6-year-old son, Kellen, who was clearly enjoying the show.
A video shared by Donaldson captures the entire interaction between Urban and the family. The singer gave Kellen a fist bump, and then signed a cardboard cutout guitar the boy brought to the show. As Urban was signing the guitar, Kellen's father shared, "When he was born, they said he would never walk or talk, and now he knows all your songs." Kellen then fell into Urban's arms in a sweet hug.
Donaldson posted the video on Instagram, writing that the moment will be a memory "that will last a lifetime."
Donaldson also shared a photo of the neon sign Kellen brought to the show. It read, "I wasn't supposed to walk. I wasn't supposed to talk. Now I'm jammin' to Keith Urban." She also shared photos of their sweet family of three, and they got to meet opener Ingrid Andress as well.
According to Music Mayhem, Donaldson has shared that Kellen has Hydrocephalus, which results in a buildup of fluid in the cavities of the brain. Kellen reportedly endured two surgeries by the age of eight days old, and his parents were told he would never "walk, talk or lift his head."
He defied those odds, however, and now Donaldson says he's a music lover who is "completely enamored" with Urban. She says he owns 13 guitars and two banjos, and Urban even indirectly persuaded Kellen to wear the protective goggles he needs due to a cornea transplant.
"He did not want to wear them at all at first," Donaldson shared with the publication. "We had to show him a picture of Keith Urban wearing glasses for him to wear the goggles, and since he saw that picture, he wears them with no issue."