Mount Vernon boy takes ‘amazing’ trip at Safeco

SEATTLE — To most of the 45,876 fans at Safeco Field, Kyle Wolden’s pregame trip around the bases was a touching little moment that helped kick off the Mariners home opener.

For Tony and Mari Wolden, however, that 360-foot dash was an emotional reminder of just how far their son has come in the past year.

Kyle, 9, is a little more than a year removed from a battle with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a disease caused by E. coli that attacked his organs, requiring surgery, kidney dialysis and eventually a kidney transplant. He spent four months at Children’s hospital, and eventually had to relearn how to walk, talk, and do many of the things most kids his age take for granted.

Yet there Kyle was Monday, sprinting around the bases before sliding into home plate where Ken Griffey Jr., Chone Figgins and Felix Hernandez waited to greet him.

“It’s amazing where we are now compared to where he was a year ago,” Mari Wolden said. “Amazing.”

With Kyle seated to his left and daughter Camryn to his right, Tony Wolden was all smiles as the family took in the game from their front-row seats. Previously the baseball coach at Stanwood High School, Tony Wolden is taking the year off to be with his family, and is giving hitting lessons at the family’s Mount Vernon home.

“He took a tough route to earn this, but we’re really proud of him,” Tony Wolden said. “What a great way to be able to celebrate him being healthy.”

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.

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