By Kate Larsen
Camera Staff Writer

WINDSOR — While playing baseball with friends, Boy Scout meetings and television will be missed, Jigme Yong-Song can't wait to get back to Tibet to see his family.

Jigme, a former Casey Middle School student, came to the United States in December 2000 for a series of surgeries to correct severe, life-threatening curvature of his spine, called scoliosis.

The first procedures were performed in 2000 by Dr. John Odom at The Medical Center of Aurora.

Hospital staff donated more than $250,000 of medical services to treat and care for Jigme. Jigme's last surgery was Jan. 15

Now, he's ready to go home.

"Seeing my parents is the most important thing to me right now," Jigme said Sunday, amongst friends gathered for a farewell celebration in his honor at the Windsor home of Doug and Jeannie Kreykes, his host family.

Before moving in with the Kreykes, Jigme spent about six months in Boulder.

"He's going back a healthy kid," said Jennifer Cleary, Jigme's former Boulder host mother. Cleary works with All Together Now International, a nonprofit organization that sponsors life-saving surgeries for children like Jigme.

Jigme is probably the last child from Nepal or Tibet to be brought here by All Together Now International. The nonprofit is raising money to open a spinal surgical unit in Nepal.

Without the surgeries, it is likely Jigme would have died before the age of 16, Cleary said. His spine would have eventually crushed his internal organs, she said.

That was difficult to imagine Sunday, as the rambunctious 12-year-old ran at full speed to first base during a baseball game. Moments later he wrestled with a friend to tag home.

"I'm going to take back a lot of pictures to show my family all of the stuff I did," Jigme said during a break from the game.

Outgoing and friendly, Jigme greeted every party-goer with a hug or a handshake.

"Hey, who invited you?" he teased one late-comer.

While Jigme's English is excellent, he is nervous about his speaking Tibetan again, he said.

His Colorado host family is worried about more than that.

"It's possible he could go home and we could never see or hear from him again," said Jeannie Kreykes. Contact with Americans is strongly discouraged in Tibet.

Doug Kreykes said he was recently told not to use names in his e-mails with an English-speaking contact who lives near Jigme's village.

Doug, Jeannie and two of their three children will begin the long journey to Tibet this weekend.

"We're going to basically have to leave him in the middle of nowhere," said Bryan Kreykes, 20, one of Jigme's host brothers. "There can't be any big good-byes because we can't draw a lot of attention to him."

Jigme grew extremely close to Bryan, Doug Kreyke said.

"It's going to be tough, but the saving grace is that Jigme really, really wants to go back," Bryan said.

The Kreykes plan on setting up a sealed bank account Jigme can access when he turns 18 to help him go to college or return to the United States.

Jigme said he would like to come back in about 10 years to see all his friends.

"I could see him just showing up at DIA one day," Jeannie Kreykes said. "He has the where-with-all to do something like that."

Contact reporter Kate Larsen at (303) 473-1361 or larsenk@thedailycamera.com

June 3, 2002

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