Meet the Delco toddler leading this year's D'Dummers Parade
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Callan Palladino wearing his Kelly green Saquon Barkley jersey. Photo: Courtesy of Dan Palladino
Callan Palladino was born with one ventricle — but he may have the strongest heart in Delco.
Why it matters: The 14-month-old is the grand marshal of Saturday's D'Dummers Parade — an annual fundraiser in Ridley Park organized by diehard Eagles fans to support local families navigating serious medical battles.
Driving the news: Hundreds of costume-clad revelers are expected to turn out for the 2pm parade, followed by daylong festivities at Dolan's Bar, including raffles and D'Dummers swag giveaways.
- The group hopes to raise $3,000–$5,000 to help offset some of the Palladinos' medical costs.
Catch up quick: Palladino was born with a rare heart defect that left him with a single ventricle, which pumps oxygenated blood to his lungs. His mother held him for just a minute after birth before he was whisked to the ICU.
- He later underwent a 13-hour open-heart surgery, spent the first 300 days of his life in the hospital, takes 11 medications daily, and remains on a feeding tube.
- The family will return to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California, in April for the second of three surgeries, his dad, Dan, tells Axios.
What they're saying: "It's definitely been a rollercoaster of emotions," Dan Palladino says.
Yes, but: Delco has been a soft pillow for Dan, his wife, Katelynn, and their two other kids, Braelynn and Kaydence.
Flashback: After the Mummers Parade was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, local Eagles fan Ron Fisher and several friends took to the streets outside Dolan's Bar dressed as Mummers and Kiss band members, carrying a boombox for an impromptu parade.
- The event "really caught the vapors," Fisher says, and grew into an annual fundraiser.
- Police now block off the streets, neighboring fire companies roll in, and parents tow kids along in wagons.
The bottom line: After months of doctor visits and uncertainty, Dan Palladino says it will be good to watch his smiling son get a day to just be a kid.
- "I can't believe that he's home. I can't believe that he's in a bouncer watching cartoons," he says. "I just want him to live as normal a life as he can — to wake up every day and not worry about his heart."