OHSU Doernbecher patients design Nike footwear, apparel to benefit Oregon children's hospital

PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital and Nike today unveiled the highly anticipated 2015 Doernbecher Freestyle Collection. An extraordinary partnership between OHSU Doernbecher and Nike, the Doernbecher Freestyle program provides young hospital patients battling life-threatening illnesses the opportunity to make their mark designing one-of-a-kind Nike footwear and apparel that is produced and sold to support the hospital that changed their lives.

"The Doernbecher Freestyle program is a celebration of the strength, bravery and character of children fighting serious health conditions," said Michael Doherty, Nike Senior Creative Director of global brand presentation, longtime Doernbecher Children's Hospital Foundation board member, and creator of the Doernbecher Freestyle program. "After 12 years, I remain in awe of the creativity and stories that these exceptional patients share through their designs. The results provide a source of inspiration, hope and support for the wonderful families, health care providers at OHSU Doernbecher, and the community." 

Each year, hospital physicians, nurses and staff nominate patients from Oregon and Southwest Washington to participate in the Doernbecher Freestyle program. The selected designers travel to the Nike world headquarters near Beaverton, Oregon, where they meet their world-class Nike design and development team, brainstorm ideas and begin sketching their designs for the collection shoes and apparel. The kids use their designs to express powerful personal messages — sometimes serious, sometimes whimsical — about their lives, their experiences and their hope for the future.

Now in its 12^th year, the program has raised more than $11 million for the children's hospital.

"Through Doernbecher Freestyle, our patient-designers are able to share their medical stories — in their own way — while helping other kids embarking on a similar journey," said Dana Braner, M.D., F.A.A.P, F.C.C.M., interim physician-in-chief, OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital, and professor and interim chair, Department of Pediatrics, OHSU School of Medicine. "OHSU Doernbecher is extremely proud of, and grateful for, this remarkable program. We applaud Nike for seeing these patient-designers, and all of our OHSU Doernbecher children, for the superstars they truly are." 

This year's collection of six limited-edition footwear and apparel designs features a glow-in-the-dark dancer, an Egyptian pyramid, comic book legend Stan Lee's signature, a personalized family crest, the Bat-Signal and Sasquatch riding a unicorn. To learn more about this year's Doernbecher Freestyle patient-designers, and view their unique designs, please visit Nike News.

The 2015 Doernbecher Freestyle Collection will be available for purchase on nike.com, at select Nike retail locations nationwide, and at select Villa and Shoe Palace retail locations, beginning Saturday, Nov. 21.

All proceeds from Doernbecher Freestyle sales will benefit OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

About the Doernbecher Freestyle Program
Since its inception in 2004, the Doernbecher Freestyle program has featured 70 OHSU Doernbecher patients, deeply involving their families and engaging Nike employees who become emotionally involved in the effort to create amazing shoes and apparel, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences for the kids, all while raising money to support OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital and advancing the cause of children's health. More than $11 million has been raised to date to help expand pioneering research, support clinical care, purchase state-of-the-art equipment, recruit new experts and help cover the cost of care for families in need.

Doernbecher Freestyle was conceived by Michael Doherty, Nike Senior Creative Director of global brand presentations and a longtime board member of the Doernbecher Children's Hospital Foundation, when his son suggested Nike create custom shoes to honor OHSU Doernbecher patients.

About OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital
OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital ranks among the nation's Best Children's Hospitals, * and is one of 21 members of the Children's Oncology Group's Phase 1 and Pilot Consortium. Nationally recognized physicians and nurses provide a full range of specialty and subspecialty care to tens of thousands of children annually, resulting in 200,000 discharges, surgeries, transports and outpatient visits annually in a patient- and family-centered environment. OHSU Doernbecher providers also travel throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, providing specialty care to more than 3,000 children at more than 200 outreach clinics in 15 locations. Using state-of-the-art, secure two-way video and audio communication, OHSU Doernbecher's Telemedicine Network connects pediatric intensivists and neonatologists to emergency room physicians statewide to help evaluate time-critical pediatric patient needs and assist with treatment plans.

* U.S. News & World Report 2015-16 Best Children's Hospitals

About Nike
NIKE, Inc., based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly-owned NIKE, Inc. subsidiary brands include Converse, which designs, distributes and licenses casual sneakers, apparel and accessories; and Hurley, which designs and distributes a line of action sports and youth lifestyle apparel and accessories. For more information, NIKE, Inc.'s earnings releases and other financial information are available on the Internet at http://investors.nike.com and individuals can follow @Nike. 

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SOURCE Oregon Health & Science University

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