'Inside Pediatrics' TV series featuring Wichita area patients premieres this week on KAKEland in Wichita
Inside Pediatrics, a six-part documentary series narrated by Kansas City native and actor Paul Rudd, will premiere on Sunday, March 8 at 10:35 p.m. on KAKEland in Wichita, Kan.
Coolfire Studios filmed for over three months in Kansas City and the Wichita area, capturing real and powerful moments from patients, families, doctors and nurses. Cameras went inside the clinics and operating rooms, inside the families' experiences and inside the hearts and minds of the medical staff that provide transformational care for the children in the Kansas City, Wichita and beyond.
"This is a very personal project for me," Rudd says. "I get to meet these remarkable kids every year when I visit Children's Mercy for our Big Slick Weekend [the annual fundraiser hosted by Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Rob Riggle, David Koechner and Eric Stonestreet]. I don't think anyone can understand what happens every day at a hospital like this unless you're here, and you meet the families and the staff. Inside Pediatrics takes you there, and the stories are very real and powerful."
Inside Pediatrics follows 28 patients from 22 different cities, across five different states. Among them, viewers will meet Winston, a six month old baby boy from Buehler, Kan., who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This means that his heart only has one pumping chamber instead of the usual two. Prior to filming, Winston already had one of the three surgeries he will need in order to affectively rewire his heart. We see Winston's second surgery on camera, and he will need the third sometime between the ages of three and five.
"Through it all, it has been terribly hard," Winston's mom, Emily, said. "But God has been good."
Viewers will also meet 10-year-old Julio, who travels three hours to Kansas City from Wichita for treatment. He had a successful kidney transplant six months prior but the disease is now attacking the transplanted kidney. Doctors introduce alternative therapies to treat him. Nilijah is a 13-year-old athlete from Liberal, Kan., preparing for the fall sports season when his routine physical in Wichita results in a quick referral to Children's Mercy Kansas City, where cardiologists discover a mass in his heart which requires an urgent heart surgery. Viewers experience it all.
The one-hour series premiere will kick off at 10:35 p.m., on Sunday, Mar. 8, on KAKEland immediately following the 10:00 news. The full schedule of dates and times are as follows:
Each episode will be posted the morning after its airdate on www.kake.com/health/insidepediatrics.
Follow and share the stories from each episode on Facebook.com/InsidePediatrics and on Twitter @ChildrensMercy using the hashtag #InsidePediatrics.