Jordan Walker Ross’ childhood was filled with regular visits to Cook Children’s Medical Center – Fort Worth.

If that name sounds familiar, there's a good reason. You’ve likely watched him make theatrical magic as he morphs himself into characters spanning multiple genres, from the disciple known as Little James in the faith-based drama “The Chosen,” to Mikel, the resilient cowboy in the TV Western “1883.”

Jordan comes by his acting chops naturally. He is the grandson of Emmy-award-winning actor Barry Corbin, best known for his role as rough-around-the-edges town developer Maurice Minnifield in “Northern Exposure.” You’ve also seen Corbin in “Urban Cowboy,” “War Games,” “Yellowstone” and “Lonesome Dove,” to name a few of his many stage, television and film hits.

“He’s following along in my footsteps. Lord, help him,” Corbin said. “I always tell people if you find something else that you’d be happy at, go do that, because it’s a lot easier. But he chose to go the hard way and I’m proud of him.”

Jordan’s journey from his home in Texas to Hollywood success hasn’t been easy. He had big hurdles to climb long before his first acting audition.

Born seven weeks early on February 8,1990, Jordan estimates he spent at least four weeks out of every year as an inpatient at Cook Children’s for treatment of severe asthma, likely the result of his underdeveloped lungs from prematurity. Jordan also has cerebral palsy and severe scoliosis.

His first admission to Cook Children’s came when he was 3 for a serious bout of meningitis, which his younger sister also contracted.

“They were just babies and in two separate hospital rooms,” said Shannon Ross, Jordan’s mother. “So I would put on all of the gear and go into Jordan’s room and check on him and play with him for a little while. Then, I would go into another room where I would get sanitized and put on a new gown and go see my daughter.”

The Ross siblings recovered from their shared illness, but that hospital stay marked the beginning of a relationship that would carry Jordan into adulthood.

“It was just part of the routine,” Jordan said. “I would have an asthma attack and my nebulizer or inhalers wouldn’t help so it was like, okay, cool, we’re going to Cook Children’s. It was like a second home to me.”

Magical Connection

It was at Cook Children’s that Jordan says he first experienced a similar magic to what he now creates on screen. The type of magic where everyone understands the special role they play in a common goal.

What is that common goal? Connection.

In Hollywood, it’s about connecting with the audience through storytelling. At Cook Children’s, it’s about connecting with children and their families through kindness, generosity, respect, collaboration, safety and imagination.

“The environment at Cook Children’s is just magical,” Jordan said. “That’s a perfect word for it because even from the outside with the blue peaks and the bushes trimmed in different animal shapes, they’ve done such a good job making it feel like such a fun, happy and magical place, even though you are there for sometimes scary things.”

For Shannon, the most memorable magic happened when Jordan was able to venture outside of his hospital room and explore spaces throughout the medical center while riding in a little red wagon. 

“The kids loved riding around in the wagons,” she said. “You put their IV on the IV pole on the back and you could just go all over the place. You go down to the lobby and they’d have people coming in to sing or do magic tricks. And then there’s the store. It was like going to Toys R Us. It was just the neatest thing in the world.”

Everything for the Child

Jordan’s visits to Cook Children’s were often a family affair that included his mother and grandfather.

Like many of the characters he’s played, Corbin was a stalwart presence at his grandson’s side. He’d often sit outside Jordan’s hospital room and read the newspaper. Far enough to stay out of the way but close enough to keep watch over Jordan and his mom. Their constant presence, Jordan says, was a source of comfort and security.

So when Jordan had a severe asthma attack and found himself inside the emergency room of a Los Angeles hospital two days after his 18th birthday while working in California, Corbin and Shannon rushed from their homes in Texas to his side. Despite Jordan having asked the staff to call his mom and breathlessly repeating her number to them just before being intubated due to an extremely low blood oxygenation level, the staff initially declined to give Shannon information about her son’s condition, citing his status as a legal adult. After working through the red tape, Shannon and Corbin were eventually reunited with Jordan. They found him lying on a stretcher in the hallway of the emergency department days after his admission. He was alone and connected to a ventilator.

It was a stark contrast from the safe, family centered, everything-for-the-child approach to care that Jordan and his family say they were accustomed to at Cook Children’s, and it took them all by surprise.

“Cook Children’s is an anomaly,” Shannon said. “It’s not like other hospitals because it was able to make a really negative and scary experience a positive one. You almost forget you’re in the hospital and that is huge for a parent, kid or grandparent. I never realized that until years later when Jordan aged out of Cook Children’s and went to an adult hospital and that changed everything.”

Shannon had Jordan transferred to another LA-area hospital as soon as possible. She also reached out to his long-time Cook Children’s pulmonologist who cleared the way for Jordan to be flown back to Texas and admitted to Cook Children’s when he was stable enough to make the trip.

“Coming back from LA, when I saw the blue peaks at Cook Children’s, it was just the biggest relief,” Jordan said.

Dynamic Duo

Now, for the first time, Jordan and Corbin are sharing the screen as co-stars, recounting their Cook Children’s story. Although far from the lights of Hollywood, it was a job they were both more than willing to do having experienced Cook Children’s care and kindness first-hand.

“The doctors and nurses at Cook Children’s have a personal relationship with each patient. It’s their mission to treat your child like it is their child,” Corbin said. “Jordan is a naturally empathetic person. You don’t learn that. It’s something you have or you don’t have. He had it to start with, but I think his experiences at Cook Children’s enhanced that and made it stronger. A lot of that empathy has to do with his treatment at Cook Children’s.”

That connection Jordan felt as a child under Cook Children’s signature blue peaks continues now that he has three children of his own. When they are sick, he and his wife turn to Cook Children’s for their kids’ health care needs. Jordan says their periodic visits are a full circle moment for him. The nostalgia he feels reminds him that, just like he was all those years ago, his children are in good hands.

“I remember our first trip there with my kids was like going back to my childhood home,” Jordan said. “A huge chunk of my formative years was spent there. Getting to go back and see it all again from the perspective of a father was really special, and it was nice to see it hadn’t changed. The care and environment are still the same.”

The white smoke from the official's starter gun rises in the air as the runners sprint around the track.

Two, four, six, eight...

The competitive cheerleaders chant before they begin their routine.

There’s dead silence. Then the sound erupts of gymnasts’ landing and sticking.

These moments make up three of Bryce Gray's favorite passions. People who know and love 16-year-old Bryce, describe her as a premier multi-sport athlete, a great leader, and a trusted friend. Yet, her favorite interest came to a screeching halt during a routine physical.

"I was tumbling and everything was normal. I had some pain, but I just thought it was typical back pain. I was doing backflips every day," Bryce recalled.

During her appointment, Bryce and her mother Shemita learned she had scoliosis, which was the source of her back pain. 

"At the time, I time didn't know what scoliosis was," Bryce remembered. "After going to get fitted for a brace, I realized it was serious."

Bryce wore a back brace prescribed for 6-18 hours a day very compliantly, for 16 months. She was only allowed to remove her brace to shower and practice sports. She complained her clothes no longer fit and became self-conscious going to school, not sure how her peers would react.

"My friends made the best of it and started to call me Bryce-bot," Bryce said. "They would joke that I looked like a robot because of how hard the plastic was on my brace."

Bryce was released to actively compete just in time for summer. She and Shemita believed she'd made progress wearing the brace and were relieved when Bryce was able to stop bracing. By the end of summer, Shemita realized something wasn't right as Bryce complained of breathing problems.

"She told me she thought she had asthma," Shemita remembered. "She kept complaining about her breathing and I knew I needed to get her to the doctor.”

Bryce saw Lauren LaMont, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Cook Children’s Medical Center.

That doctor's appointment would be a turning point for Bryce. The family learned Bryce’s curve had grown over the summer, and her spinal curve had worsened. Her hips were also uneven.

"They told us her curve was progressive and had started to press against her lungs," Shemita explained.

"I have dreams of being a college athlete. When I got my diagnosis, I felt like everything was put on hold," Bryce expressed emphatically. 

Dr. LaMont explained that Bryce's condition would continue to worsen, and surgery would be her only option for correction.

"If you took an X-ray of a normal back curve, it would measure between zero and 10 degrees and no one would question it," Dr. LaMont said. "Bryce's curve was near 60 degrees, and we knew she would need surgery."

After receiving the news, Shemita allowed Bryce to decide when she’d have the procedure. Out of fear, Bryce continued putting the surgery off.

"I knew what was best, but I didn't want to go through the pain and the healing process," Bryce said. "After a breakdown at the hospital, Dr. LaMont helped calm me down and I had surgery three days later."

The week before surgery, Bryce received the news she'd been selected as captain of her cheer team. She'd worked hard to achieve this honor.

"I felt shattered," Bryce remembered. "I was cheer captain. It was the middle of the summer, and I couldn't hang out with any of my friends. It was hard."

Dr. Lamont performed a posterior spinal fusion. The surgery took four hours, and Bryce spent four days at Cook Children’s for post-op care.

"I went in through her back and put rods and screws inside to straighten her spine out as much as possible," Dr. LaMont said. "We then fused the area so the spine no longer moves."

Once Bryce was home, she learned there wasn't much she could do for herself. She needed help showering, turning over in the middle of the night, and getting up the stairs. Because her surgery took place while COVID-19 precautions were in place, she was unable to have visitors and could only see family and friends through video chats. She also began a rigorous physical therapy regimen.

Bryce finished her last session of physical therapy in early January and was released to continue with her activities. Her orders require her to take it slow. Bryce admits it hasn't been as easy as she'd hoped.

"Getting back to normal is not going well," Bryce admits. "I knew I had metal rods in my back, but I didn't think much of it because I'm an athlete. I tried getting back into track and cheer at the same time, and quickly realized it was a bad idea."

Bryce decided to sit out of track and field and focus on getting stronger in cheer and tumbling. She has known how to do a back handspring since she was a toddler and finds it frustrating that she now needs help.

Shemita says watching her daughter go through this process has been grueling, but she's learned a lot from Bryce's determination to get better. Shemita has faith her daughter will continue to excel, no matter how long it takes.

"She's very resilient," Shemita said. "She's strong-willed, and a hard worker. I have no doubts about her recovery. I want her to take it slow."

Dr. Lamont agrees Bryce should ease back into her activities, especially if she wants to heal and continue to live out her dreams.

"She will feel different as she gets back into tumbling and some of more of her flipping routines because the mobility of her spine is different,” Dr. Lamont explained. “I don't want her to stop being an athlete. Part of the reason we fixed her back is so she can continue living her life the way she desires. She has to be patient.” 

As Bryce continues to get stronger, she reflects on how she can help other young women with scoliosis.

"Whatever sport you're doing is not more important than your life or your future," Bryce said. "You have to stay strong and positive to get through the recovery process, and you'll be able to get back to doing what you love.”

Bryce has two more years of high school and still wants to go to college on an athletic scholarship. Instead of seeing her surgery as something that put her dreams on hold, she's shifted her mindset and now believes it was a temporary obstacle for her to come back as an even stronger champion.