A FAMILY AFFAIR: The Brock family during the golf tournament. (Grayson Plunkett)

CAIRO — The first annual Echo’s Journey Golf Tournament took place Friday morning at Tired Creek Golf Course. The event raised money for three-year-old Echo Brock, who received a kidney transplant last August and still needs daily medication.

“My brother, Dad, Husband and Father In-Law all golf and we were trying to think of ways to raise money for Echo,” said Ariel Brock, Echo’s mother. “CODA was giving us plenty of ideas and told us people were doing car washes and then my brother said ‘why don’t we do a golf tournament?’”

Though unfamiliar with golf, Brock trusted her brother, Curt Balla. He thought a tournament would be the perfect way to share Echo’s story. Balla and Echo’s godmother, Shelby Williams, helped plan the event. Brock and her daughter, BriarRose, began spreading the word.

“We put it out on Facebook, we spent a day going business to business and my daughter talked about how she wanted to tell the story of her brother, so she wanted to hand out flyers to tell her brother’s story.”

Echo was named after a character from “Star Wars” series “The Bad Batch.” Shortly after birth, doctors found kidney complications more serious than expected.

“When they went in with the urologist to look at his kidneys to see what was wrong, they saw that his kidneys did not form all the way and they had cysts all in them. They were working at baby capacity for him, but as he would grow, they would not be able to sustain and help him grow. So he was going to have to have a kidney transplant,” said Ariel.

He spent two years on dialysis while waiting for a donor. Last August, his father’s cousin, Sophie Anderson, became a match.

Anderson took the first appointment offered. She later learned she was a 100 percent match. The Brocks were overjoyed.

“Because she got to find out before we did, she got to tell us the news which was overwhelming,” Ariel said. 

The two families remain close. Brock said they’re proud to share Anderson’s part in Echo’s story.

“We love to share her story, because a lot of people know about the one receiving the transplant, but not a lot of people know about the donor.”

Since the transplant, Echo has been thriving. He even took his first trip to the beach.

“His first time getting to go to the beach and getting into the water, it’s everything,” Ariel said. “It evokes pure happiness and that little boy loves the water.”

The community showed overwhelming support. All player slots were filled with neighbors donating door prizes. Chick-fil-A Bainbridge provided lunch for players, while volunteers pitched in. One friend, Ashley Gonzalez, had her husband design shirts for the event.

Tired Creek prepared the course for tournament day.

“I can’t thank the clubhouse enough for getting the course ready for us to be able to do this is kind of amazing,” said Balla.

The event drew a full crowd.

Though not focused on a goal, they were happy with the response.

“I know we’re not going to hit that number of donations, but it’s good to see the turnout of what we had,” Balla said.

The family hopes the tournament becomes a tradition.

“At the end of the day our goal is to not only raise money for him, but to raise up enough money so that next year, we will be able to make our first donation towards another kid who’s getting a transplant,” Ariel said. 

Brock said her priority is Echo’s health and well-being.

“I’ve talked about numerous times that he’ll never have to decide between food or meds,” Ariel said. “He’ll always get to choose meds and food. That’ll always be a priority that he gets to keep.”

She hopes the event continues to grow.

“Our hope is to continue to have this grow so it is here long-term and it’s something that he has to look back on, that he’s made an impact on not only just a couple of people, but on his family and the community.”