Photo courtesy of Kewby Meyer
By Nicole Skow
To quote the young Disney- Pixar heroine Lilo Pelekai, “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind.”
Even before the movie “Lilo & Stitch” came out, Kewby Meyer, leftfielder for Nevada, lived by this motto. Since he was three years old, Meyer has been helping out Aaron Meyer, his older brother, who suffers from cerebral palsy.
The first thing Meyer helped Aaron Meyer with was baseball. Aaron Meyer played in a Challenger Division in Hawaii, which meant players from the little league teams came down to play with the children with disabilities. Playing and helping the kids in the Challenger Division opened Meyer’s eyes.
“Just watching all of them play with different disabilities makes me appreciate that we are normal and we can even walk and do things on our own,” he said. “A lot of them have to depend on other people to get them through their life.”
When the league ended, Meyer helped out Aaron Meyer in other ways. Meyer found ways to include him in activities that might be challenging for someone in Aaron’s situation. Georgette Meyer, Kewby’s mother, watched Kewby take his older brother out of his wheelchair and put him in a canoe to paddle with him.
Georgette Meyer believes that her two sons influence each other. Aaron Meyer watches Kewby Meyer be a good teammate, includes him in activities and is positive.
“I think Aaron is, hopefully, a big influence on Kewby because Aaron has a very positive demeanor,” she said. “He doesn’t know that he’s disabled. He thinks he can do everything.”
Austin Byler, first baseman and one of Kewby Meyer’s closest teammates, has also witnessed the love Meyer has for his brother. For the past three years, Byler watched the Meyers talk, high five and give each other knuckles whenever the family came out to watch Meyer play.
“I think it’s really special, to be honest,” Byler said. “It’s got to be tough for him going through that, and obviously for his brother. But I think he embraces it, and he actually enjoys it. They interact very well together. They’re always talking to each other. (Kewby’s) always giving him high fives and knuckles. We love having him out here.”
Since Meyer no longer lives and plays in Hawaii, Marco, Georgette and Aaron Meyer can’t attend every game, but they travel to as many as they can. Over time, Aaron Meyer has become Meyer’s biggest fan. While Aaron Meyer can’t be there in person, he is always there in spirit.
“I always play for him,” Meyer said. “That’s the one person that I think about during the game because he really loves baseball, and since he doesn’t have the opportunity to play, I do it for him.”
Nicole Skow can be reached at euribe@http://archive.archive.nevadasagebrush.com.