Cody Dorman, boy with rare genetic disease who bonded with racehorse, dead at 17

Cody Dorman, a boy with a rare genetic disease who bonded with a racehorse named Cody’s Wish, died Sunday, a day after the horse won a race at the Breeders’ Cup. He was 17.

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Dorman died after experiencing a “medical event” as he flew back from Los Angeles to Kentucky with his family, The New York Times reported.

The family had gone to Southern California to celebrate Dorman’s 18th birthday a month early and to watch Cody’s Wish run at Santa Anita Park in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The horse won his second Breeders’ Cup race by a nose and withstood an inquiry after he horse bumped with National Treasure down the stretch, the newspaper reported.

“We are heartbroken to share the news that our beloved Cody suffered a medical event on our trip home to Kentucky and he has passed away,” the boy’s parents, Kelly and Leslie Dorman, said in a statement. “On Saturday, Cody watched his best friend, Cody’s Wish, display his usual perseverance and toughness in winning a second Breeders’ Cup.

“Those are the same characteristics Cody has showed time and again for the 18 years we were blessed to have him. We have been completely amazed to experience the impact Cody has had on so many people, through the journey that this wondrous racehorse has taken us all on.”

Cody had Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can leave a person without the ability to walk or communicate. The boy was not expected to live past the age of 2, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cody, who suffered from frequent seizures, traveled to Godolphin’s Gainesborough Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, in October 2018 to meet a horse through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, according to The New York Times.

His parents said Cody formed a bond with a particular young horse.

“He was a nice, quiet, laid-back foal,” the farm manager, Danny Mulvihill, told America’s Best Racing in 2022. “It was very important from my point of view to see if we could get a foal close to Cody, knowing he was in a wheelchair.”

Mulvill told the Los Angeles Times that the unnamed colt “came out and took a look at the wheelchair and Cody.”

“(He) took a second look and inched closer and never gave us a cause for concern” Mulville told the newspaper. “And he just kept inching closer until his nose was right there. He was nuzzling Cody’s hand and then his head went into Cody’s lap.”

In 2019 the colt was named Cody’s Wish at the suggestion of Gainesborough manager Mary Bourne, who had kept in touch with the Dorman family.

“I think that horse probably saved Cody’s life in a lot of ways,” Kelly Dorman told The Associated Press. “I know him and the horse have made a lot of lives better.”

The race at Santa Anita was the final one in the career of Cody’s Wish. He won 11 times in 16 starts, according to The New York Times.

“With Cody’s diagnosis at birth, we always knew this day would come, but we were determined to help Cody live his best life for however long we had him,” the Dorman family said in its statement. “Anyone who has seen him at the racetrack, especially around Cody’s Wish, understands that in many ways he taught us all how to live, always keeping a positive attitude and being more concerned about those around him than himself.”

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