A Shawano radio station that won a WBA award for a story about a family’s struggle brought the mother to tears when they decided to give the family the award.
WTCH did a story in 2015 about Liz Shames titled “A Mother’s Love.” Her only son, Chris, died at age 26. He had a surgery at age two in which he was without oxygen long enough for his brain to shut down, leaving him in a nearly vegetative state.
Kayla Williams from WTCH said she first met Shames at a radio broadcast. She said her husband, WTCH News Director Brad Williams, decided to do a story about Shames and her son.
“Chris was never expected to live as long as he did. Shortly after our story aired, Chris passed away at 26 years old,” Kayla Williams said. “The story went on to get a lot of feedback from our community about the strength of a mother’s love. It had since won an award at the Wisconsin broadcasters Association awards banquet. Liz was honored that her story touched a lot of people.”
Williams said Shames asked them for a copy of the award, but they got permission to give her the award the station had won.
“Because I work in animal welfare, Liz thought I was asking her to come in to show her something like a puppy or ask her about a vaccination. She had no idea that we were presenting her with the award,” Williams said. “She has since placed it in a curio cabinet next to Chris’s urn.”
