When Keith Kimmel and his wife went to the doctor’s office for a sonogram at 19 1/2 weeks, they “had no idea (they) would be blessed with a ‘Riley Child.’” At the time, they were informed their unborn son’s abdomen hadn’t closed. Although it did close while still in the womb, he had a very large bladder, so they were introduced to Dr. Mark Cain, for whom they are very thankful.
Their son, Joshua Kimmel, was born at 6 p.m. on a day when Cain had been in surgery from 6 a.m. until 8:45 p.m. when he met with the Kimmels.
“He helped calm us down, reassured us Joshua would be OK and told us to just focus on loving our son,” Kimmel said.
Since then, Kimmel has hosted two events on the Monon Trail in the Carmel Cyclery parking lot called Joshua’s Ride, and has raised more than $13,000 for the pediatric urology department at Riley, which is made up of the only five pediatric urologists in the state.
Joshua’s Ride isn’t a usual charity ride, though. Rather than focusing on local athletes to complete a race of some sort, it’s billed as a “family day on the Monon.” In the parking lot, there will be a bounce house, a fire truck for kids to poke around in, a reptile show run by “Steak Head Ed,” a retired middle school teacher, live music and a silent auction for the adults.
People are encouraged to walk or ride the trail during the event; a short course is set up for smaller children. The event is on June 24.