A 14-year-old Columbus teen will receive the MVP experience from the Indianapolis Colts Monday when he and his family are special guests of the team for Monday’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Malachi Cole was nominated for the experience by Damar Services in Indianapolis, which has been working with the teen to help him overcome behavioral issues related to a developmental disability.
Damar nominated Malachi because of substantial progress the teen has made after about 18 months of treatment, which allowed him to return to Columbus from the agency’s residential program.
“He’s a sports fan, period,” said Malachi’s father, John, said about his son and the chance to attend a Colts game.
“This is his first professional football game, He has gone to an IU football game, but we have never been to Lucas Oil Stadium,” John Cole said.
Malachi, his father, and invited guests Dustin Romer, a Damar staff member, and Chris Campbell, who provides community-based services for Malachi in Columbus, will be treated to a limo ride to the game.
Malachi will be able to be on the Colts field for pre-game warmups and will meet Colt mascot Blue, along with receiving several gifts from the team, his father said. While Malachi’s mother Diane Cole was invited, too, she deferred and allow Romer and Campbell to have the experience with Malachi.
Malachi was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and the Cole family adopted him at age 3. Malachi was eventually diagnosed with autism, anxiety and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, according to Damar officials.
The complex diseases caused Malachi to exhibit severe behavior problems, eventually resulting in the boy entering Damar’s residential program at age 10. He received 18 months of treatment then, and returned to Columbus.
As Malachi became older, more behavior problems required intense services and he returned to Damar when he went through a new Stabalization, Assessment and Transition program, which provides emergency shelter and assessment for children who could be a danger to those around them.
At the end of three months of treatment, Malachi returned home to Columbus, and traveled to school at Damar where John Cole works in one-on-one behavior support for clients.
Since returning home in December 2017, the family and Damar said the teen has steadily improved and has not had any significant behavioral issues at home for the past two months.
“We’ve been on a rollercoaster since Malachi was about 6,” John Cole said. “His behaviors meant we had police at our house at least once a week. Now it has been two months without significant behavioral issues — or police — at our house. That’s huge.”
Much of the improvement has been Malachi’s ability to utilize coping skills and developing and using strategies for staying calm, his father said. Damar officials reached out to the Colts organization about honoring Malachi’s progress and the MVP experience was offered.
In addition to being honored by the Colts, Malachi’s progress means he can devote more time to playing basketball and softball and running track through the Bartholomew-Brown-Jennings County Special Olympics, his father said.
Malachi plays in the outfield and his father is a pitcher on their Unified softball team, which is heading to a state tournament next month, the family said.
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To learn more about Damar, which offers residential and community-based treatment programs, outpatient behavioral health services and Applied Behavioral Analysis Autism Services, visit damar.org.
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The Indianapolis Colts vs. the Baltimore Ravens preseason football game will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Monday on ESPN.
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