After five years of raising money for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital through a Christmas inflatable display, Dartmouth High School students Braiden Norton and Carlos Jeronimo were able to donate their largest amount yet.

Thanks to an anonymous company match, the boys were able to donate $9,000 to the hospital this year, which was recently made official.

With a love for the inflatables, Braiden began holding the display in Padanaram village when the Christmas festival was canceled during the Covid pandemic. For him, using the event to donate to Spaulding made perfect sense given the positive experience he had while receiving treatment in its Pediatric Department.

Braiden spent time recovering from a long series of brain surgeries at Spaulding after doctors discovered a tumor — a noncancerous form of juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma — at the top of his brain stem when he was just 18 months old.

“That place is so important to me,” Braiden said. “So it was really good being able to do that for them.”

According to Braiden’s father, Philip Norton, Spaulding had a significant impact on his son’s healthcare as one of the brain surgeries left him needing to relearn how to do everything, including walk, talk and swallow.

Braiden said, “Spaulding made it super great and very comfortable. Everyone there was awesome. I kind of fell in love with the place because everything about it was so great.”

He added, “Surprisingly enough, I kind of had fun there — they kind of distracted me from all that was going on.”

Philip noted how much the event has grown since 2020, with Braiden calling in the help of Honor Society students to help run the event this past December.

He emphasized his son’s kindness, and how this is just “the kinda kid” that he is.

Despite dealing with these health complications since the age of one, Philip says, “He's always been interested in giving back and he's always had a positive attitude.”

Now, Braiden is getting ready to graduate from Dartmouth High School with honors, according to Philip.

However, come September, he won’t be going too far as he’ll be headed to Massachusetts Maritime Academy and will be back for winter break to help Carlos keep the event alive.

Braiden and Carlos said they look to grow the event every year.

Regarding this past year’s event, Carlos said, “The town was great. Everybody was so responsive and giving — everybody was so kind.”

He said he’s “very thankful,” adding, “I just think the entire thing was positive and great for the whole community.”