Post-season Kid Captain Emery Tillberg to be honored at Iowa v Iowa State game | Events

Emery Tillberg, 6, son of Erik and Sarah Tillberg of Rock Island, Ill., is the Iowa Hawkeyes football team’s post-season Honorary Kid Captain. He will be recognized when the Iowa Hawkeyes’ men’s basketball team takes on Iowa State on Dec. 7 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Emery was born 15 weeks premature after his mother had been diagnosed with preeclampsia, a condition that occurs when a pregnant woman develops dangerously high blood pressure and protein in the urine. It can be life-threatening to both mother and child, and the only cure is to deliver the baby.

Emery was taken immediately to University of Iowa Children’s Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). His lungs were severely underdeveloped, and he weighed one pound, five ounces. He stayed in the NICU for 225 days. More information and a video about Emery are available at http:///www.uichildrens.org/kidcaptain/.

Now in its fourth year, the Kid Captain program is a partnership between UI Children's Hospital and the Iowa Hawkeyes to honor pediatric patients and celebrate their inspirational stories.

Kid Captains have their individual stories told throughout the football season and receive a commemorative jersey. Home-game Kid Captains are honored at midfield before the start of the game.

Submitted Press Release