CVS Caremark - All Kids Can - Success Stories


Columbia, Missouri Easter Seals She’s a “ball of fire” -- that’s what anyone who knows Tori Boyles, age nine, will tell you. With her wide smile, and big, curious brown eyes, she’s always engaged and, most often, in the middle of whatever is happening. She’s also very determined and sometimes stubborn, qualities that her mom and her teachers both admire and encourage. They’re also quick to point out that “can’t” is not in Tori’s vocabulary. Before Tori was born, her mom, Becky Boyles, knew that her adopted daughter would have spina bifida. As a nurse in the pediatric ICU, Becky had vast experience caring for children with disabilities and she welcomed the challenge to not only provide Tori’s medical care, but to love her unconditionally. To this day, Becky still gets goose bumps when she recalls meeting Tori for the first time. “She was just a few days old. And she was gorgeous. She had a special look in her eyes,” says her mom. It was a perfect match. Becky found Easter Seals when Tori was two. As a single mom seeking appropriate child care, she needed a child care program that was inclusive and where children were grouped by their age and not their developmental milestones. Because Tori didn’t yet walk and used sign language to communicate, she was kept with the babies in her first child care setting. But at Easter Seals Child Development Center in Columbia, Mo., Tori joined her two-year-old peers. Her teachers remember her as an energetic, giggling little one who was walking and a chatterbox at age three. Tori was then able to start elementary school on time, with her Easter Seals teachers providing background for her new teachers. “I learned from her as much as she learned from me. And in Tori’s case, stubbornness can be very good,” says one of her teachers with a big grin. “Every child is a special needs child in some way or another.” Today, Tori is a happy, typically developing third grader. She’s also a veteran of 12 surgeries and years of physical and occupational therapy. She walks with a walker, and uses a wheelchair, sometimes, when she has to cover long distances at school and on the playground. She rarely accepts offers of help, as she can do almost everything on her own. Tori attends Easter Seals’ after school program, and has been an active Girl Scout since she was five. Everyone who knows her talks about how kind and loving Tori is, and how Tori’s example has inspired so many of her friends to try harder when they’re challenged. “Tori never gives up. She’s been a fighter every step of the way,” adds Becky. Perhaps that’s a trait she picked up from her mother, another fighter who isn’t afraid of a challenge. Becky began her family of children with disabilities, adopted and fostered, when she was 23 and working as a pediatric nurse. Over almost twenty years, Becky has adopted six children with disabilities and fostered more than 100 children and teens in her home. “It’s an ever-growing, changing family,” says Becky. “Tori has thrived with her many siblings and lots of pets. At the end of the day, each of the children has learned lessons in acceptance, diversity and the challenges of life.”