Funny. Smart. Curious. Son. Big brother. Football fan. Spinal muscular atrophy patient. Those are all ways that you can describe Ayden Watts. You can also call him Ambassador.
He is one of a handful of kids nominated and chosen to be a Hoops Family Children’s Hospital Ambassador for 2025-26. In other words, he is kind of a big deal. Ayden is no stranger to the Marshall Health Network’s Cabell Huntington Hospital and Hoops Family Children’s Hospital. In his 11 years, Ayden has had about two dozen hospital stays—some for a week, some for a month.
Ayden’s diagnosis of AMS has no cure. He never crawled or walked and has very low muscle tone and a number of lung problems as a result of issues from scoliosis. His mom, Ericca Henry, said to make no mistake, mentally he is all of his 11 years.
“He’s funny or he thinks he is,” she said. “He is very social, and he will talk about anything with anyone.”
Those things make him perfect to be an Ambassador for Hoops Family Children’s Hospital and specifically the Child Life Department. Ambassadors raise awareness and funds for different departments. Henry said all the clinical departments have been of the utmost importance for Ayden, but Child Life turns dark places to light.
“We’re honored,” said Carleigh Cazad Francis, child life coordinator and music therapist. “That’s our goal. I’m glad that we have made a difference in his life because he has definitely made a difference in ours.”
That’s a popular opinion.
“Oh, he’s king of the unit,” said Stephanie Cape, child life specialist. “He’s learned all our phone numbers and how to connect to us if we’re not there when he wants us. He keeps his door open and pays close attention to what’s going on.”
Ayden especially loves football, notably the Kansas City Chiefs. He loves playing football on the Play Station provided by the Child Life department. As part of his ambassador role, Ayden was a junior captain at Marshall’s 2025 homecoming game verses Texas State. It was an experience he enjoyed nearly as much as his Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World in 2022.
It’s been a hard year for Ayden and his family. He has been hospitalized eight times and had to switch to being homeschooled. Getting to sit in important places and meet football people was a highlight of the year.
“He met Mike Green of the Baltimore Ravens, who is a Marshall alumnus, and told him the Ravens are his favorite team,” said Henry, with a laugh. “I got a video of it and later he told me to delete it just in case he gets to meet (Chiefs quarterback) Patrick Mahomes.”
Ayden says some of his favorite things about Hoops are nurse Bree Thompson, playing on the Play Station (often with various employees), and Door Dashing lunch with the nurses.
“I have other children, so I can’t stay there with him all the time when he’s there,” Henry said. “One time, I had been gone for something and came back in, and he is sitting in the PICU behind the nursing desk answering the phone.”
In short, Henry said Ayden is loved and treated like family, and that’s part of what makes Hoops Family Children’s Hospital so special.
“He is rotten in the best way,” said Cazad Francis. “He is here so much; he is our boy. We love him very much. He is spunky and outspoken and has the biggest heart. And he also likes to kick our butts at Madden (the Play Station football game).”
Henry noted one of the Residents, Dr. Colton Morrow, personally reached out to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where Ayden also visits regularly for specialized care, and asked his doctors there for information on how they could better treat him here. She said examples like that of going above and beyond make a difference.
“That is special to me,” she said. “As a mom, you try to learn all you can, but I can’t take books to every appointment or hospital stay. Every parent wants instant answers, but behind the scenes they are constantly working on something to treat these kids better.”
It’s not just the medical and child life staff either. Ayden was once getting lab work done and was very upset and yelled for security. Security officer Mike Wagner was nearby, took the security patch off his uniform and gave it to Ayden to keep and help him be brave. That prompted a wild story and collection of first responder patches. He now has hundreds from all over the country and world.
While Ayden is happy being an ambassador and raising awareness and money for the Child Life Department, Henry hopes that this also serves to raise awareness for AMS.
“We want people to know how much support we have had from that hospital,” she said. “They are like family. Donating to any department makes good things happen. The staff is amazing and don’t get enough credit for what they do. But we also want to raise awareness for SMA. A lot of kids have it and there’s no cure. Ayden’s 11 and there was no medicine for him until he was five. Look how far they’ve come in not many years. They’re making progress. I just hope more people can learn about it, more progress is made, and one day kids can not have it and live typical lives.”
In the meantime, Ayden is making the most of his life and impressing his friends at Hoops.
“He doesn’t let anything hold him back,” said Cazad Francis. “Many of us able-bodied people let easy things hold us back. He just doesn’t let anything get in his way.”
Ayden is an HFCH Ambassador! Click here to learn more!
