Benson H.S. 'Snow Week King' Inspires Students
BENSON, Minn. (WCCO) -- Kris Thomson is not quite big enough to be a football star at Benson High School, but his oversized heart has earned the admiration of his peers.
The results of the Snow Week royalty contest bore that out. Amid a crowd of contenders with impressive resumes -- basketball stars, hockey titans and student craftsmen -- Thomson was crowned Snow Week King.
"He got voted everyone's friend in our high school," said candidate Karysa Pederson, a senior at Benson High. "He's always there for everyone,"
It isn't the only time Thomson has bucked the odds. At birth, Thomson went straight into the pediatric intensive care unit with a rare medical condition called Fryns Syndrome.
Now 19, he is missing half a lung, suffers heart problems and has an accelerated metabolism that keeps him small. Thomson was in the hospital for a year.
"He wasn't expected to live very long," said Thompson's mother Andrea. "We were finally able to get him home, and he came home with ventilators, oxygen and 24-hour nursing."
His family even turned their home, which was in Nebraska at the time, into a mini pediatric ICU for their son.
Now Thomson is a senior at Benson, where every year, the high school holds Snow Week, which is sort of like homecoming in winter. When Thomson was named Snow Week King, the entire crowd of a few hundred strong cheered.
Thomson's mother said she thought he had a good shot at winning.
"The kids have been campaigning for him," she said.
She said it is an extreme honor for her son, especially considering just how far he's come.
Benson is about two-and-a-half hours west of the Twin Cities.
