He suffered a stroke in the womb before birth and doctors still don’t know why.  DJ Glander is a senior at Indiana University and compared to some, his childhood was not the typical ‘go to school, have sports practice afterwards, come home to eat dinner and do it all over again the next day.’  It involved a lot of tests and operations done from the time he was six months old to about the middle of high school.  Glander was treated at Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana’s first and only comprehensive hospital dedicated exclusively to the care of children.  From surgeries to overnight stays done for testing, he’s experienced it all.  Besides his stroke, Glander has had multiple tests done for his underdeveloped right arm and leg, as well as epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Now 21, Glander is enjoying his last year of college spending time with good friends.  He says he not only has Riley Hospital to thank for saving his life, but also the Indiana University Dance Marathon. http://www.iudm.org/our-mission/

This past month, Glander took the stage in front of the IUDM community one last time to tell his story.  He began giving his Riley story at IUDM 2015, and has come back every year since.  Glander is the tenth member of his family to come through IU Bloomington and could not be more grateful that he did.  Although this was his last dance marathon, his mission was still the same: To do it for the kids.  “The minute I stepped into the tennis center, I knew this was home… and IUDM is not just a thing at IU, it is not just an organization, it is a lifestyle,” said Glander.  And this lifestyle changed his life.

 

For most of his life, Riley Hospital was Glander’s home away from home- a place where he formed a family with the doctors, nurses, pediatricians, social workers, etc. who gave him an immense amount of love and support.  https://www.rileychildrens.org/contact-and-locations/riley-hospital-for-children-at-indiana-university-health

IUDM is a huge part of Glander’s heart not just because of his personal connection to the hospital, but because he sees what the hospital can do and the miracles that have happened there.  Riley Hospital and The Wells Center for Pediatric Research heavily depend on the generosity of donors to support the clinical programs and pediatric medical research.  Without IUDM, they would not be able to continue serving the 300,000 in and outpatients from Indiana and across the world.

Since 2015, Glander has been an active member of IUDM telling his story on stage and participating as a dancer and committee member.  He never plans to stop raising money for the hospital or dancing on his feet for the kids.

People who know him well say DJ is the light in a dark tunnel.  “He is one of the most empowering people I have ever met, he always has the right person in mind in the right mind, at the right time, and I just think the world of him.  I think the world would be a lot better place if there were more DJ’s here,” said Matt Spector, a good friend of Glander.

DJ’s plans after IU are undecided, but he studying nonprofit management and intends to graduate this May with a Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs from SPEA.  His goal is to continue to help others, serve and give back to the community as much as it has given him.