Eric Piburn rolled up the sidewalk in his wheelchair for a day he wouldn’t forget. The 9-year-old had no idea what was waiting for him inside the doors of our studios.
The Land O’ Lakes boy loves "Wheel of Fortune." He records the show on his family’s DVR each night. He has a "Wheel of Fortune" board game. He wears the batteries out on his iPad from playing the "Wheel of Fortune" video game.
But, it’s so much more than a game show to Eric.
“This is how I taught him his letters,” said his mother, Randi.
For the first three years of his life, Eric didn’t speak. He was lucky to even make it that long, according to doctors. Eric was born with a congenital heart defect and has pulmonary hypertension. He’s already needed four open-heart surgeries in his young life.
If he doesn’t get a heart and double-lung transplant, he’ll die.
“Basically we’re sitting on borrowed time,” said Randi.
“The doctor said it’s getting worse so we’re just taking it slow,” said Eric.
One of the ways he passes the time during lengthy hospital stays is by watching "Wheel of Fortune" with his family. He loves Pat Sajak and Vanna White and routinely shouts out solutions to puzzles at his television set from 7 to 7:30 each night.
That’s why we wanted him to come to the TV station.
Pat and Vanna were waiting for Eric via satellite. We gave Eric a tour of the station that ended in the anchor’s chair. When we pulled a tarp off of the monitor positioned in front of his chair, Eric shrieked with joy.
“Pat and Vanna!” he yelled.
The three of them chatted for a few minutes. The show hosts set up the famous "Wheel of Fortune" game board with a special message that read "Wheel of Fortune Loves Eric Piburn." After chatting with Pat and Vanna, Eric was giving tons of gifts from the game show. It's a day his mother says he'll never forget.
“This is everything to him,” said Randi. “I think this is something that we’re going to be talking about for a very long time.”
