Community comes together to form motorcade in Enterprise for teen who’s beaten the odds

Written by Cody Blowers
October 27, 2023

ST. GEORGE — A boy who had less than a 12% chance to live has beaten the odds, and for his 16th birthday, the Enterprise community came together and formed a motorcade to celebrate his life.

The Enterprise community hosts a birthday parade for Corbin Kirkham, who was given less than a 12% chance of surviving at birth, Enterprise, Utah, Oct. 23, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Ricci Harvey, St. George News

On Monday, about a block from the home of Corbin Kirkham, fire engines, an ambulance, motorcycles, trucks and cars lined up in anticipation of passing by the teen’s home to celebrate the miracle milestone of his 16th birthday.

After coming into the world prematurely, Corbin endured a multitude of medical complications. In addition to having cerebral palsy and lung and heart issues, he also is legally blind, as previously reported by St. George News.

Even so, the teen’s bright disposition and his endless positivity continue to capture the community, Enterprise City Mayor Brandon Humphries told St. George News.

Once word spread about a possible “honk party” that would pass by Corbin’s house in celebration of his birthday, the mayor said he was completely on board. And seeing the community come together for a teen who sees the good in everyone and everything is heartwarming, he said.

“It’s something we don’t get to see every day,” he added.

The motorcade included a high school cycling team, several all-terrain vehicles, motocross bikes, fire engines and trucks from the Enterprise Fire Department, and an ambulance from Enterprise City Ambulance.

The group of approximately 100 community members gathered at the corner of 200 East and 200 South, about a block or so from the teen’s home, Ricci Harvey, with Enterprise City told St. George News. The procession passed by Corbin, who was sitting in a lawn chair in front of his house, and the turnout was amazing, Harvey said.

During the festivities, Corbin also was given a football jersey from the football team, and a cycling jersey from the Utah High School Cycling League.

The prompt for the celebration was simple: it all started with a Facebook post.

During a phone call with St. George News on Wednesday, Stacy Mitchell, Corbin’s mother, said she wanted to celebrate her son’s birthday with a “honk parade,” since her son loves all things with an engine and wheels. And being that her son was turning 16 — the age when most teens are getting their driver’s licenses — she said she thought that having a few cars, motorcycles or bicycles drive by the house would make her son’s birthday special.

Community comes out to celebrate Corbin Kirkham, who was given less than a 12% chance of surviving at birth, and who is turning 16 years old, Enterprise, Utah, Oct. 23, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Stacy Mitchell, St. George News

From there, “it blew up,” she said, and it seemed like the entire community became involved. The number of people who “took time out of their day,” to participate was “overwhelming,” she added.

Corbin, who was born prematurely at 1 pound and 7 ounces, was not supposed to live two days, let alone 16 years, his mother said, adding that her son spent the first two years of his life shuffling between Primary Children’s Hospital and St. George Regional Hospital. The nurses who cared for her son still remember him, she said.

So much so, she said, that a group of these nurses from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit sent a video to wish him a happy birthday, Mitchell said. She said she was amazed that they still remembered taking care of him more than a decade and a half ago.

The procession likely would not have happened without the efforts of the mayor though, said Mitchell. She said the mayor has been continuously wonderful and even presented her son with a “key to the city” a while back. While this gesture brought a lot of joy to her son, she said in some ways her son already believed he had a key to the city due to the community’s effort to make him feel included.

While Mitchell’s decision to relocate to the Enterprise area a few years ago was based primarily on the quality of the school system and its curriculum and activities geared toward special needs students, she said she found something else: a loving community that truly cares.

“So many people took time out of their busy day, and some even took time off of work, to make Corbin feel special,” Mitchell said. “You don’t see that every day.”

St. George News reporter Jessi Bang contributed to this report.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cody Blowers was raised in South San Francisco, California. A 2013 graduate of Colorado Technical University, Cody earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor in paralegal studies. Through the course of her academic studies she discovered that writing is her true passion, and she is committed to providing credible, integrated news coverage. Cody joined St. George News in 2015, and when she’s not busy chasing the news, she can generally be found chasing her young granddaughter, Kali.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews

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