It was unremarkable to walkers who passed without noticing the moment: a young teen chatting easily on a park bench in the dappled sunlight of a warm October afternoon.
But for Avery Wilson, the 13-year-old girl at the center of this deceptively casual-looking scene, it was a moment full of extraordinary details.
The Hazelbrook Middle School 8th grader was one of six young OHSU Doernbecher patients chosen to design a shoe for Nike this year. She was hours away from unveiling her creation at a gala auction to celebrate the collection. Across the street at Portland Art Museum, workers rolled out the red carpet she would walk later that evening.
“It’s just totally surreal,” she said.
And, exciting as it is to have her own Nikes, perhaps the most profound detail is this: hanging out on a city bench was no big deal. Two years ago, that would have felt untenable. She would have been counting the minutes she could wash the contamination off her body.
Avery was diagnosed at age 11 with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and ADHD at Doernbecher’s Adolescent & Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic. She was referred after months of negotiating the unrelenting thought that she could not get clean.
“I felt like I was being tortured by something in my own brain,” Avery said. “It was really scary.”
The childhood packed with dance, play, creativity, and affection was quickly shrinking. Activities she loved, and simple daily routines like sleeping, dressing, and hugging her parents became increasingly impossible.
She spent hours in the shower “scrubbing [her] skin raw,” trying to feel clean.
“My world just kind of kept getting smaller. I felt like I would never make it through,” she said.
Though months of work still lay ahead, Avery was optimistic after her first meeting with clinic director Dr. Kyle Johnson, the provider who would eventually nominate her for Nike’s 2027 Doernbecher Freestyle Collection.
Johnson, she said, assured her she “wasn’t crazy,” exactly what she needed to hear, then began developing a treatment plan that helped her externalize intrusive thoughts and build a ladder back to wellness.
Her fears became the “Rat King,” named for a character in The Nutcracker ballet Avery was preparing to dance in at the time, Johnson said in a video segment about Avery. The ladder began with simple tasks at the base, like touching the bathroom floor for five seconds without washing her hands afterward, and progressed to slashing her shower time to 2 minutes.
Rung by rung, she got her old life back.
Climbing trees and playing outside.
Sitting on a weathered, downtown Portland park bench without counting the moments until her next shower.
Snuggling her pet chickens Peanut, Squiggles, Fluff-Butt, and Dibbles – even when they poop in her hands.
Hugging her parents.
“I can actually live my life to its fullest,” she said. “I can be a kid again.”
That renewed vibrancy is turned up bright in the colorful, playful sneaker design that incorporates some of her hand-drawn original characters, an adorable clip-on, keychain plushie, friendship bracelets, and playful nods to loved ones and even to her own brain.
Avery spent nine months collaborating with a team of Nike shoe designers to perfect her retro Air Jordans.
The annual fundraising collaboration, now in its 22nd year, pairs young patients from the children’s hospital with a team of Nike designers to design a limited-edition release. Profits are donated to the hospital. Freestyle sales have raised more than $46 million for the hospital since 2004.
Last month’s auction netted a record-setting $2.4 million for the program. Funds help cover costs for families in need, research, and specialized care. Proceeds will also help finance a planned addition at the hospital that will bring together the mother-baby unit, Fetal Surgery and a new neonatal intensive care unit to increase continuity of care.
“The designers really invest in these kids,” said Avery’s dad, David Wilson. “And the fact that they’re investing in Doernbecher is so important. I think (Doernbecher) literally saved her life.”
Each team starts with a different base shoe as the pallet, and “no” isn’t part of the vocabulary. It’s a dream scenario for a daydreamer who finds magic in letting her mind drift. Nike teammates encouraged Avery to let her imagination run wild.
“They are full-in,” Avery’s mom, Lisa Wilson, said about the Nike designers. “They are invested and want to hear and explore and share. It was an incredible process for us to go through as well. They make it a full family, community process.”
Idea after idea, no matter how far out Avery got, her adult colleagues showed up with curiosity and answered her ideas with enthusiasm.
“Instead of telling me my ideas were too much or too crazy or that I was reaching too high, they were like, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s such a unique idea. I love it.’ They were empowering me to be who I am.”
The final design brings Avery’s imagination to life in color blocks of green, orange, pink, purple, and yellow, with iridescent sheen wrapped around the laces. The small, replica Oregon license plate PPY 143, hidden beneath the tongue, is a tribute to her late grandfather “Poppy,” with her family’s numeric code for ‘I love you.”
“Neurospicy” is stitched along the collar with a red chili pepper, as a winking nod to her own brain and a reminder of the good friend she recently lost. Greg, the plushy, green alien clipped to laces, is just plain fun.
Neurospicy because she’s not ashamed of mental illness.
“It’s not weird. It’s not crazy. You don’t need to hide who you are,” she said. “To anybody out there who’s struggling mentally, it does get better even if it feels like there isn’t hope.”
Avery’s custom Air Jordan 11 Low IE and the entire 2027 Doernbecher Freestyle collection will be available online and at select retail locations in January 2027.
