SILVER BLUE JEANS MOVIE

The fact that he could get hurt doesn't faze him. It's fast and furious and you've got to be tough to hang in there. 'He watches it all the time,” his dad says.

SILVER BLUE JEANS MOVIE

Instead, the conversation turns to a movie he loves, “Eight Seconds,” based on the life of bull rider Lane Frost. You won't even know Hank has health challenges and is facing a life-saving surgery. Through it all, you don't hear one word of complaint from Hank, or Amy or Ren. They do have health insurance, but medical costs add up quickly.Ī rodeo fundraiser at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds last month helped, with many friends pitching in. “With any luck, God willing, hopefully, we’ll be home for Christmas,' Ren Jones said. 7 transplant operation, they'll have to stay in Seattle for three months to be near the hospital, living out of their camper with help from parents. “We're kind of taking a back seat,' Ren said.Īfter the Sept. Ren is a team roper while Amy rides in the barrels and breakaway roping.īut not this year. “When they're not chasing the pigs or cows around trying to rope them, they’re pushing Tonka trucks all day,” says a proud Ren. They pitch in with chores, as much as little kids can, and practice for the rodeo, which they also love. “We should have burned it down,” Amy said, laughing. It included what they called an “extreme fixer-upper.” The Jones family lives on 10 acres in Athol, where they raise cattle and pigs, while both mom and dad also hold down jobs. If it's successful, Hank should be good to go. 'So we're going to transplant while he’s healthy.' “They think it's best that we transplant, and I was a living donor option,' Amy Jones said. Hank did well, even earning his first prize money. “They really wanted to transplant Hank in June, and we asked them no because he was recovering so well and we really wanted him to have a summer and we've rodeoed all summer, probably did six rodeos, and just tried to live the best we can,” Amy said. With the help of medication, he recovered. “And then magically, for four years, we had nothing,” she said.īut this spring, he became septic and was flown to Seattle, where doctors said his liver was failing. She estimated Hank was at the hospital twice a month for his first three years on Earth. “And then it was surgery within three days,” Amy said. A trip to the doctor’s office diagnosed the illness. But at 5 weeks old, he started getting jaundice. “Anybody that meets him is like an instant friend,” his mom says. His parents describe him as responsible, “like a 15-year-old more than an 8-year-old,” who looks after his brothers and sister. The Jones family - dad Ren, Amy, the three boys and the youngest, Georgia - is enjoying a pizza dinner outside the arena after working on the grounds. “We have a strong faith in God,' she says. Mom is not stressed about the operation, either. Hank, asked what he thinks of what his mom is doing for him, doesn't say much. This time, his mom will be donating her liver to save Hank’s life. His first surgery was at 7 weeks and now, it's time for another. It’s the leading cause of pediatric liver transplants. Hank has biliary atresia, a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants. The rest of this year is out because the Athol boy will be undergoing liver transplant surgery on Sept. He won’t be competing this year, he says. Hank explains these are the chutes where a bull will burst out of the gate, rider on its back, next weekend. As the big machines pass by, a cloud of dust rises and flows toward the Jones brothers. He has the maturity of an oldest brother.

Later, with little brothers Wade and Luke, he returns to the chutes and watches as the arena grounds are prepared for the North Idaho State Fair. His calm demeanor seems to rub off on Vivian. The redhead sits on his horse, Vivian, with the ease of someone who grew up around farm critters, which he did.

He looks like a cowboy, acts like a cowboy and as far as he’s concerned, he is a cowboy. Hank is wearing a cowboy hat that seems big for his head, cowboy boots with spurs, blue jeans, a silver belt buckle and a checked shirt with a bolo tie. “Over at the bucking chutes making sure they open right,” answers the 8-year-old. COEUR d’ALENE - When Hank Jones wanders up to his mom Amy at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, she asks where he’s been.

Silver blue jeans