Rajah News - October 2022

2022 PRETZEL
BOWL QUEEN
Kaydnce Sheppard
Kaydnce Sheppard was born in Zephyrhills, Florida.
At birth, her left leg was shorter than the other. It is a condition called P.F.F.D, which stands for Peferal Femur
Focal Deficiency. Kaydnce was 2 months old when she was first seen at the Tampa Shriners Hospital. The
doctors there thought that amputation was the best solution. They felt she would never walk or crawl.
Then her mother’s uncle, Curtis Beam, a Rajah Shriner and 32 degree Mason of Lodge 152 in Easton, PA,
referred the family to Shriners Children’s - Philadelphia for a second opinion. The doctors there offered a ray
of hope that the leg could be saved. So, with that more favorable outlook, the family moved to Pennsylvania
and Kaydnce began treatment. She has been a patient of Shriners Philadelphia ever since. Kaydnce has had
multiple leg-lengthening surgeries over the years and has benefited from new surgery techniques that have
been developed at the hospital and within the Shriners Hospital System.
Today, Kaydnce is an active teenager. She is in the eighth grade at Nazareth in the Nazareth school district
and loves basketball and art. She has an older half-sister named Michaela who lives in Zephyrhills, Florida,
and a stepsister named Chloe.
Her mother, Raylene, is thankful for the loving care that her daughter has received in the Shriners Hospitals.
She said “It’s a miracle, really, what the doctors have accomplished with Kaydnce. From that first heart-breaking
diagnosis when she was just 2 months old, to a young person with a bright future. Thank you, Shriners!”
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