The Story Behind The : AIR JORDAN 5 “DOERNBECHER”
Nike and OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital are proud to pay tribute to 2012 Doernbecher Freestyle Program patient Isaac Arzate and his family with the release of the limited-edition Doernbecher Air Jordan V Retro. Click inside for the full story from Nike.
"Isaac Arzate was a talented young athlete who pitched a no-hitter in baseball and savored an undefeated season in basketball. In January 2012 Isaac suffered a cardiac arrest at basketball practice and was sent from Salem to OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, where doctors discovered a previously undetected abnormality that is one of the most common causes for heart attacks in young people.
After recovering from open-heart surgery, Isaac was invited by OHSU Doernbecher to be part of the 2012 Freestyle program. During his rehabilitation from surgery, he began sketching designs for an Air Jordan V Retro, highlighting his interests and experiences. He also became well enough to don his jersey and watch his basketball team from the bleachers, occasionally getting to shoot around during breaks in the game. Then in April 2012, 12-year-old Isaac tragically suffered a second heart attack, and did not survive.
Deeply saddened by his tragic passing but inspired by his passion and spirit, Nike and OHSU Doernbecher invited Isaac’s family to work together to finish the design that Isaac had started. Using Isaac’s original sketches as a guide and some more his parents found, they created a design reflecting Isaac’s vision and incorporating design elements that represented the things that mattered most to him in his life:
Isaac’s jersey numbers, 9 for baseball on the upper of the left shoe and 31 for basketball on the right.
The inside of the tongue features Isaac’s initials, and the dates of his birth and passing.
Several parts of the shoe glow in the dark, including the eyelets, lace toggle, outsole, Nike Air unit and quarter panels.
The upper features the words of a poem in black light ink that Isaac wrote just a day before he passed away. Some of the words include: “My team. My family. We are brothers forever. No matter what.”
Each pair includes a flashlight to complete the glow-in-the-dark effect, inspired by Isaac’s love of video games." _ Nike
