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82nd Airborne Division helps teen receive surgeries

The Inter-Mountain photo by Haley Gordon The West Virginia chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division gathered for their annual luncheon on Saturday. Special guests of the dinner were Kylie Shinaberry and her family. From left are President Barry Hogue, Secretary Don Jennings, Kylie Shinaberry, her step-mother Corey Rose, her sister Mackenna Shinaberry, father Brian Shinaberry, grandmother Louise Stark and grandfather Bob Stark.

ELKINS — The West Virginia chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division of the Army gathered for their annual luncheon to honor Kylie Shinaberry, a 17-year-old from Pocahontas County who the Division has sponsored for years.

Shinaberry was born with birth defects that affected development in the left side of her face. She’s had many surgeries throughout her life and hopes that the final procedure will be performed in the near future.

The 82nd Airborne Division began sponsoring Shinaberry when she was 5 years old by raising funds to help cover some of her medical expenses. The Division has worked closely with the Shriners Hospitals for Children to provide care for Shinaberry.

“If we didn’t have a lot (of the help), we’d be way, way, way far in debt,” said Corey Rose, Shinaberry’s step-mother.

“It started with her leg,” said Rose. “They took a bone from her leg and put it in the jaw.” An expanding device was also implemented to slowly shift the bones and help her breathe.

Shinaberry was also born without an ear, but her doctors were able to construct one for her out of cartilage from her chest. The original plan was to have the last surgery in January, but complications with the ear have extended that deadline.

“Everything that they’ve done, they’ve used her own body parts,” said Rose. “They don’t want to use any plastic, anything else like that.” The logic behind that choice so there is less chance of the part being rejected by her body.

Shinaberry recently received a Baha hearing device, which will allow her to hear even more out of her reconstructed ear. Many of the sounds that fill our day-to-day lives are foreign to Shinaberry, such as the clink of silverware in a restaurant.

“Now she has to get used to all this noise in the background that she doesn’t hear,” said Rose. The first time Shinaberry tried the Baha, she said she was distracted by the sound of the air rushing through nearby vents.

Shinaberry hasn’t let these defects take away her quality of life. The high school junior loves deer hunting and says that welding is her favorite class.

The 82nd Airborne Division specializes in parachute assault operations and the state chapters consist of discharged members.

“We started in 1983,” said Secretary Don Jennings about the West Virginia chapter.

“I knew (Kylie’s) mother and she was telling me about her birth defects and I thought, ‘Well, let’s give it a shot and see if we can help her,'” said Jennings. “I did all the legwork with the Shriners and the applications and everything and it took about a year before we got a response back.”

“She’s went through more extensive surgeries than the average person could stand,” said Jennings. He said that Shinaberry always has a positive attitude and her favorite phrase is “Let’s get ‘er done.”

Through cake-walks and various other fundraisers, Jennings and his chapter have raised thousands of dollars to combat her medical costs.

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