Home Runs for Life: Meeko Sherman

He Was Down, But Never Out: Meeko’s Fight to Stay in the Game 

Meeko Sherman is a ginger-haired 5-year-old bundle of joy. 

“He’s the happiest little dude ever,” said his dad, Jerome Sherma, of Davenport. “He’s been through a lot, a lot, a lot, but he is always positive.” 

Little Meeko has been going to MercyOne Genesis Bettendorf Pediatric Therapy (GOPEDS) for his entire life, through a Down Syndrome diagnosis, heart conditions and a life-threatening health crisis. 

“Meeko first started therapy because he was in our NICU and had complications due to Down syndrome, as well as having heart conditions,” said Katie Powers, MercyOne Genesis pediatric physical therapist.  

“Meeko has overcome way more obstacles than most children, let alone kids who have Down syndrome. He's proven time and time again that he can fight through it. He is defying odds. Over and over again. He's had complications from the heart surgery that led to a neurologic deficit.” 

Following the heart surgery, Katie says his rehabilitation was focused on working toward achieving his developmental milestones and helping him learn and grow like other kids. 

A setback 

Therapy was going well, and then Meeko’s heart stopped, which led to a neurologic injury in October 2024. 

“We rushed him to the ER, and as soon as we got there, his heart stopped. He was gone for almost 30 minutes. When you're gone that long, he had some more complications from the lack of oxygen. So, that was a pretty big setback for him and us,” Jerome said. 

Up until that moment, Meeko was “on the rise” according to his dad. His physical, occupational and speech therapy were all working well. But the heart incident changed the approach to treating Meeko. 

Now Meeko is learning to do things all over again, sometimes for the third time. 

“He lost all mobility. Over the past few months, through rehabilitation, he’s relearned how to roll over, and he’s working on sitting up. He wants to be active and keep up with his brother, who is running circles around him,” Katie said. 

Battling back 

Jerome says he thinks that Meeko being a redhead adds to his ability to battle back from adversity. 

“Redheads have a special breed of toughness and craziness in them that helps them to get done what they need to accomplish. There are many times I would have quit if I were him. Most people I know would've quit if they were him. He's never even thought about it. Quitting is not what he does,” Jerome said. 

Katie and her fellow therapists say they picked Meeko and his family, parents Teri and Jerome and his six brothers and sisters, as Home Runs for Life honorees because of their strength of will and all the hard work the entire family has put into helping Meeko recover. 

Defying the odds 

“He’s fighting through all these things, defying all the odds. There have been multiple times when the family was told that he would not survive it. He has been on palliative care and in hospice services more than once in his life, and he has bounced back and fought through it. And he's still just a smiley, ornery, happy little guy that's happy to be in therapy,” Katie said. 

“Without GOPEDS, my son couldn't live as full a life as he does. He would've never made the progress, the physical progress, the mental progress that he's made,” Jerome said. “Seeing him today, it's not always the easiest to know because, compared to other 5-year-olds, it’s not even the same thing. But without GOPEDS, we would be completely lost. They do mean so much to us. They're the reason my son is who he is, and we feel very lucky and very blessed to have them.”