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Festival Of Trees Is This Weekend; It Benefits Children & Teens

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It's one of the most anticipated holiday events. The Festival of Trees is this weekend at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. It benefits the Children of Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Linh Bui spent time with one Maryland teen who's currently a patient there.

Singer, actor, dancer. High school senior Greg Kenney of Accokeek was a triple threat.

"Since he was two years old, he's been performing," said his mother, Stephanie Watson.

But while running a marathon in September, the teen had a heart attack.

"No oxygen or blood to his brain for 15 minutes and he was diagnosed with sudden cardiac death," Watson said.

A severe brain injury left Kenney unable to speak or walk---but his love of performing shines through during his intense rehab six days a week at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Kinney is learning to control his breath and produce sounds and he's regaining movement in his hands and feet.

"With the music department and the physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy---it's just like a symphony how they've put everything together," Watson said.

Kinney has made amazing progress in about eight weeks.

"Music kind of taps into executive functioning, language, cognition, motor planning," said neurologic music therapist Nikki Spurgeon. "A patient who is maybe having trouble speaking can learn how to control their speaking voice through the rhythm of music, through song."

This weekend, help support the Kennedy Krieger Institute at the Festival of Trees. Proceeds from the event benefit patients like Kenney.

For more information, click here.

As part of our community commitment, WJZ is a proud sponsor of the Festival of Trees.

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