Happy Friday, Delco.

We made it. Temperatures are creeping toward the mid-50s this weekend — actual spring weather — and the events calendar is packed. But first, a story worth sitting with for a minute.

In today's edition:

Just over a year ago, a toddler from Clifton Heights became the first person in the world to be treated with a fully customized CRISPR gene-editing therapy — one designed specifically for him, targeting the exact genetic mutation causing his rare, life-threatening metabolic disorder called CPS1 deficiency.

His name is KJ Muldoon. He's not yet 2. And he's walking.

CPS1 deficiency affects how the body processes protein. Without treatment, it can cause fatal ammonia buildup in the brain. Liver transplants are sometimes an option, but KJ wasn't a good candidate. So doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine did something that had never been done before: they designed a bespoke molecular therapy — built from scratch in about six months — to correct the specific mutation in KJ's DNA.

It worked.

One year later, KJ is walking, talking, and doing things his family once wasn't sure they'd get to see. His dad, Kyle Muldoon, has started channeling the family's gratitude into something bigger — helping raise funds for a new CHOP patient tower so other families can have access to the kind of care that saved his son.

CHOP is already working on adapting the approach to treat other children with similar conditions.

It's the kind of story that deserves more than a headline. A family from a row house in Clifton Heights is at the center of what may become one of the most significant medical breakthroughs of this generation. Not bad, Delco.

→ CHOP's one-year update | 6abc coverage

Since the Academy announced it would close at the end of this school year, Radnor Township has been trying to get its hands on a portion of the 70-acre Wayne campus before it gets sold to a developer. That effort — which at one point involved moving to seize the land by eminent domain — reached a resolution at Wednesday's Board of Commissioners meeting.

Radnor and Valley Forge's negotiating team have agreed to a five-year right-of-first-refusal arrangement: if the Academy gets an offer from any buyer, Radnor gets the chance to match it. The township wants the land for a park, green space, and a new gymnasium for North Wayne — not more housing.

The formal agreement goes before the full board on March 23, pending approval by the Academy's board as well. A messy process that arrived at a good outcome.

→ Main Line Media News | Delco.Today

Matt Freese grew up in Wayne, went to Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square, and then played goalkeeper at Harvard before eventually working his way into Major League Soccer. None of that is unusual. What is unusual: he's now the frontrunner to start in goal for the United States Men's National Team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup — the one being played right here in Philadelphia this summer.

Last week, Freese made five saves to lead NYCFC to a 2–1 win over the Philadelphia Union — the team he came up across from — at Subaru Park. He heads into a training camp in Atlanta this month as the expected starter, with high-stakes friendlies against Belgium and Portugal ahead. If he holds on, he'll be in goal when the U.S. opens against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 12.

A local kid. Our World Cup. That's going to be something.

→ Philadelphia Inquirer | Fox 29