MercyOne Genesis Home Runs For Life Honoring Davenport’s Meeko Sherman
MercyOne Genesis Home Runs for Life honoree Meeko Sherman, 5, of Davenport, will be honored during the Quad Cities River Bandits game Friday, July 18.
MercyOne Genesis and the Quad Cities River Bandits have partnered since 2016 to recognize the success stories of MercyOne Genesis physical therapy and rehabilitation patients. Friday, July 18, at the end of the 2nd inning, Meeko will be honored. The game starts at 6:30 p.m., and the players from both teams will honor Meeko during an on-the-field ceremony. In addition, a video about Meeko will be played on the video board during the ceremony at Modern Woodman Park, 209 S Gaines St, Davenport, Iowa.
Meeko Sherman is a ginger-haired 5-year-old bundle of joy.
Meeko Sherman, 5, of Davenport, is all smiles while working with his MercyOne Genesis pediatric therapist Erica Jansen during an appointment in late June. Meeko is the July 2025 MercyOne Genesis Homeruns for Life honoree.
“He’s the happiest little dude ever,” said his dad, Jerome Sherma, of Davenport. “He’s been through a lot, a lot, a lot, but he is always positive.”
Little Meeko has been going to MercyOne Genesis Bettendorf Pediatric Therapy (GOPEDS) for his entire life, through a Down Syndrome diagnosis, heart conditions and a life-threatening health crisis.
Jerome Sherman, of Davenport, works to get a smile out of his son Meeko, following his therapy session at MercyOne Genesis Bettendorf Pediatric Therapy in late June.
“Meeko first started therapy because he was in our NICU and had complications due to Down syndrome, as well as having heart conditions,” said Katie Powers, MercyOne Genesis pediatric physical therapist.
“Meeko has overcome way more obstacles than most children, let alone kids who have Down syndrome. He’s proven time and time again that he can fight through it. He is defying odds. Over and over again. He’s had complications from the heart surgery that led to a neurologic deficit.”
Following the heart surgery, Katie says his rehabilitation was focused on working toward achieving his developmental milestones and helping him learn and grow like other kids.
Katie Powers, a MercyOne Genesis Bettendorf Pediatric physical therapist, works with Meeko Sherman, 5, of Davenport. Meeko is the July 2025 MercyOne Genesis Homeruns for Life honoree.
A setback
Therapy was going well, and then Meeko’s heart stopped, which led to a neurologic injury in October 2024.
“We rushed him to the ER, and as soon as we got there, his heart stopped. He was gone for almost 30 minutes. When you’re gone that long, he had some more complications from the lack of oxygen. So, that was a pretty big setback for him and us,” Jerome said.
Up until that moment, Meeko was “on the rise” according to his dad. His physical, occupational and speech therapy were all working well. But the heart incident changed the approach to treating Meeko.
Meeko Sherman, 5, of Davenport, is all smiles while working with his MercyOne Genesis pediatric therapists Erica Jansen and Katie Powers. Meeko is the July 2025 MercyOne Genesis Homeruns for Life honoree.
Now Meeko is learning to do things all over again, sometimes for the third time.
“He lost all mobility. Over the past few months, through rehabilitation, he’s relearned how to roll over, and he’s working on sitting up. He wants to be active and keep up with his brother, who is running circles around him,” Katie said.
Battling back
Jerome says he thinks that Meeko being a redhead adds to his ability to battle back from adversity.
“Redheads have a special breed of toughness and craziness in them that helps them to get done what they need to accomplish. There are many times I would have quit if I were him. Most people I know would’ve quit if they were him. He’s never even thought about it. Quitting is not what he does,” Jerome said.
MercyOne Genesis Bettendorf Pediatric therapists, Katie Powers, Erica Jansen and Megan Hinton work together with Meeko Sherman, 5, of Davenport. Meeko is the July 2025 MercyOne Genesis Homeruns for Life honoree.
Katie and her fellow therapists say they picked Meeko and his family, parents Teri and Jerome and his six brothers and sisters, as Home Runs for Life honorees because of their strength of will and all the hard work the entire family has put into helping Meeko recover.
Defying the odds
“He’s fighting through all these things, defying all the odds. There have been multiple times when the family was told that he would not survive it. He has been on palliative care and in hospice services more than once in his life, and he has bounced back and fought through it. And he’s still just a smiley, ornery, happy little guy that’s happy to be in therapy,” Katie said.
“Without GOPEDS, my son couldn’t live as full a life as he does. He would’ve never made the progress, the physical progress, the mental progress that he’s made,” Jerome said. “Seeing him today, it’s not always the easiest to know because, compared to other 5-year-olds, it’s not even the same thing. But without GOPEDS, we would be completely lost. They do mean so much to us. They’re the reason my son is who he is, and we feel very lucky and very blessed to have them.”
Katie Powers, a MercyOne Genesis Bettendorf Pediatric physical therapist, works with Meeko Sherman, 5, of Davenport. Meeko is the July 2025 MercyOne Genesis Homeruns for Life honoree.
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