Boy's Shopping Spree Dreams Come True

Four-year-old Heaton Masoner got to do something over the weekend that most folks can only dream about.

He was given full permission to shop until he dropped at the 843 W. Bloomingdale Ave. Big Lots store.

The tab was picked up courtesy of the retail chain’s efforts to support Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the patients across the country it serves.

The “all-you-can-grab” sprees on Saturday also took place in other locations across the country, including Dallas, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio, promoting the store’s efforts to gain donations for the nonprofit hospital that provides charity care to patients from 49 states and 41 different countries.

Heaton is a patient of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. When born, doctors quickly discovered the little boy had a severe cleft lip and palate, Big Lots wrote in a media release. To ensure their son received the best care, the Masoners began looking for the right hospital to assist. Their search, Big Lots said, brought them to the Columbus-based Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Dr. Richard Kirschner.

Kirschner is the hospital’s chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Under his care, Heaton has thrived, Big Lots said, but the boy will be followed well into his teen years to ensure he remains on the path to recovery.

“We develop a relationship that’s more than the standard doctor/patient relationship. We do become a medical home and medical family for our kids,” Kirschner explained.

About one in 700 babies in the United States is born with a clef lip and/or clef palate.

In honor of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Big Lots stores throughout the Tampa Bay region are collecting donations through Oct. 31. All proceeds raised from the chain’s 1,400-plus stores will be presented to the hospital on Nov. 19. To help support the effort, stop by a local Big Lots store.

Photos courtesy of Big Lots/Angela Carrasco