NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Seven-year-old Carpenter Adoo has earned the nickname “Tiny but Mighty” in short order. He underwent his first surgery at a week old and spent four months in the neonatal intensive care unit.
He's powered through more than a dozen procedures to keep the excess fluid draining from his brain safely, routinely greeting nurses with hugs and handshakes. "He handles it all with a grace that I don’t know that I would ever be able to handle it,” Carpenter’s mother, Leah Williamson, said from Memphis.
Carpenter's medical condition makes him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, putting him in a population that states are wrestling with how to prioritize as vaccine supplies fall short of demand.