Miguel Vilas – Not your average 9 year old (with or without CF)

Miguel doesn't let CF slow him down on the soccer field.

Miguel was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 3½ months, after spending about one month in the hospital, including 11 days in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and being on a ventilator for three of those days.

This wasn’t exactly the storybook beginning of a child who has excelled at so many sports by the age of 9.

“He has been playing soccer since he was able to walk,” says his dad and his former coach James. “Miguel took to soccer very easily and was considered as one of the best in his age group from 4 years of age up till now.”

His father took him to Spain last summer to be in a professional team’s soccer camp to train. At camp Miguel realized that there is a lot of competition around, even in younger age groups.

Miguel recently made the Baton Rouge Soccer Club’s Under 11 Premier team where over 60 boys tried out and only 15 were selected for this team. His coach, Gary Buete, was recently quoted in the August edition of 225 Magazine as saying that Miguel was one of the two or three strongest players in his age group in the Baton Rouge area, and that he doesn’t see any effects of CF in his training or in games.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing though. Miguel has cultured twice for Pseudomonas, but has eradicated it both times by using TOBI and Cipro. He continues to be well within his proper body mass index (BMI) at each visit to the CF clinic at Tulane Hospital by doing his breathing treatments as needed, but is not on any regularly scheduled chest physiotherapy at this time. He has had bouts where he has been ill for several months at a time and has recently developed allergies.

Miguel achieved the President’s Award in Fitness by the end of his third grade year. Only 8 percent of all children throughout the United States achieve this award for fitness. It has several components of running, sit-ups, and pull-ups to name a few. This was his first year to achieve this award and has received the National Fitness Award in all previous years.

Baton Rouge Capitals (in black) and the Dream Team (in red).
During last year’s basketball season, Miguel was his team’s leading scorer and in one game he scored 12 of the team’s 16 points for another win. He loves the fast pace of the game. “Basketball is one of my favorite sports,” said Miguel who is now a fourth grader at The Dunham School in Baton Rouge.
He has recently developed the need to wear glasses. “We noticed that he wasn’t making shots that he easily made last season, and sure enough, he needed glasses,” said his father.

Baton Rouge Capitals (in black) and the Dream Team (in red).

Before the summer began, Miguel played short stop again for his machine pitch baseball team. He enjoys playing short stop and has a very good arm. Miguel says that they lost only one game this past season by two runs, but when they played that team again, Miguel’s team beat them – “really bad.”
Miguel’s parents say they also provide Miguel with a lot of vitamin supplements, much more so than just ADEK. His mother is a registered nurse and his father researched what supplements would be most beneficial for anyone, but especially someone with CF.

“We really believe that supplementing Miguel has made a difference in his good health, and of course prayer – a lot of prayers,” said his parents. Exercise has been found to be very beneficial to those with CF in helping to loosen up the phlegm. “We feel that his staying active has also benefited him, plus he is developing a lot of self confidence.”

Miguel turned 10 at the end of October, and has begun to really enjoy something that is not “sports related” – fishing. He now loves going fishing and is looking forward to his first ever deep-sea fishing trip. He asked his father for a trip for his birthday, but with his soccer schedule, they are having a hard time finding a good date (including going to the “Fish for a Cure” Rodeo this past October). But Miguel knows that it won’t be too long until he is pulling in some really big fish! Maybe he’ll become a top rated angler as well. Good Luck Miguel!