For 31 years, the IWK Telethon has raised funds to support the needs of the IWK Health Centre.

It’s very important to families like the Flynns from Enfield, N.S.

Caden Flynn, 13, has been going to the IWK since just before his first birthday.

His parents, Jennifer and Colin, first noticed something was physically amiss when he was six-months-old.

About a year later, Caden was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

“So there's always muscle tightness. It's always tight and that's why I have to do stretches at therapy and also at home,” says Caden.

Caden's first surgery was when he was three-years-old, followed by frequent Botox injections.

Then, in grade five, the surgeries became more frequent.

“He's had probably four surgeries in the past three years,” says Jennifer.

“My legs are very bent, so they wanted to fix that,” says Caden. “So they put plates on the front of me knees to stunt the growth and let the back of the bone grow out so it would be straight on both legs and then, in the most recent surgery, I had to go in and have them taken out because if they left them in there, in a way I would start to grow backwards.”

The IWK’s influence in Caden's life goes beyond surgery and physiotherapy.

The hospital's rec therapy department helped introduce him to multiple sports.

“He got involved in sledge hockey, he got involved in the paddle-all program down in Lake Banook and the sit ski program he does in the winter,” says Jennifer.

Colin says Caden’s involvement with sports is important because they are activities they can do together as a family.

“I love being on the ice with him. I get to go out and skate with him. It's the smile on his face when he's out there, hustling around the ice,” says Colin. “And up skiing with him and taking him down the hill, the hoots and hollers of 'go faster Dad! Go faster!' It's something we can all do.”

Sports are not the only passion in Caden’s life.

“On the bottom of his emails now it's signed, Caden Flynn, Public Speaker,” says Colin. “I don't think there's any limit to what he can do. It's all a matter of how high he reaches really, it's all up to him.”

Caden says he is a lucky boy. He has a wonderful family, great friends, a beautiful dog and the IWK close by to treat his cerebral palsy.

“Say that the IWK wasn't there and the nearest hospital that could treat this was Sick Kids in Toronto, that would be really hard,” says Caden. “And to have it (the IWK) right there and to have all those staff that know me by name, and I know them by name, and they care about me, it means a lot.”

At 13, Caden is wise beyond his years and has a powerful piece of wisdom to share with others who struggle with their own issues.

“Use it as a strength,” says Caden. “Cerebral palsy has in some ways closed some doors for me, but it's opened so many more, that I almost see it as something, in way, good. Because I have these opportunities to help the IWK get money and just inspire other people and I think it's just opened a lot of doors for me.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jayson Baxter