Shriner’s Houston patient to play in East-West Shrine Bowl

PASADENA, Texas - Many Houstonians are in Frisco (near Dallas) for the 99th East-West Shrine Bowl, including Libbie Lambert, a student from Pasadena.

It's the oldest college football all-star game and benefits Shiners Children's Hospital, where Lambert has been treated most of her life. Her treatments there have helped strengthen her from a rare condition. Now, she’s showing off her own football skills to some of the players ahead of the big game, all while representing Shriner's Children's Hospital.

It’s a unique opportunity for some of the patients to meet the players in this high-profile game. "Shriners has done so much for me. They helped me to do it over my life and just did surgeries, and they just helped me get independent. I overcome. Running might be different from others, but I still do it and just going up the stairs can be a little bit difficult, but it takes time, but I find a way to just get up there," says Lambert

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When Lambert's parents adopted her from China when she was three years old, they were given the wrong diagnosis for her. "When we initially signed our paperwork, we were told she had a clubfoot and then when we got to China, we realized, this is a little more than clubfoot and the doctors there, we took her to a Western doctor and they told us, there's not a lot of hope for this kiddo like she will probably never live independently, walk, feed herself," says Shelly, Libbie's mother. 

She says while they were given very little hope at first, it was a different story when they came back to the Houston area and took her to Shriner's Children's Hospital. That changed everything.

"From day one, when we walked into Shriners, immediately we had hope, they knew what they were doing, they knew what she had, they had seen this before and they told us to take one day at a time. She may do things differently, but she'll do it her way, and she definitely does things her way," says Shelly. 

There's no stopping Libbie now! She has grown up watching football with her family and she's a die-hard Michigan fan, and she also likes to play a little pigskin, herself. "When she told us she wanted to play flag football, I was terrified, but there is no way, but she did it and they went to the championship. They were the only team with three little girls on it and she got to make a touchdown and she just everyday amazes us," says Shelly.

Lambert is the Team Manager for her high school football team at First Baptist Christian Academy in Pasadena. She uses this experience to prepare her for her big dream to coach in the NFL one day.

"I have seen females do it and I just think, they kind of broke that barrier too, because they give more opportunities for women to have that chance, to work in the NFL coach," says Lambert. She wants to be an Offensive Coordinator and already has creative plays in mind, after closely watching college and football coaches on TV. She's already developing her trick plays.

"Maybe this would work if we did this and this. I just have a great imagination of thinking oh, to pass it to this person. I can get a touchdown or whatever," says Lambert. Her mom has high hopes that Lambert will fulfill all of her dreams.

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"She just surprises us every day. She's a great kiddo, she is a blessing," says Libbie's beaming mom.

Lambert is excited to attend the Shrine Bowl! It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the best senior all-stars in college to showcase their talents in front of the top representatives from the NFL. It will also raise tens of thousands of dollars for Shriner's.

This is huge because the hospital provides specialty care for children and treats them, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. The hospital is well known for treating kids with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate.

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