Sam Spore, 15, of Dysart, will serve as the Kid Captain at this Saturday’s Iowa Hawkeyes home football game against North Texas.

Sam, the son of Chad and Heidi Spore, was born in Uganda and spent the first 12 years of his life in an orphanage there. Diagnosed with hydrocephalus and spina bifida, Sam has been undergoing physical and occupational therapy since arriving in the U.S.

The Kid Captain program, now in its ninth year, is designed to honor pediatric patients and celebrate their stories.