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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Family gets a crash course in fund raising


Becky Stipe watches as Steve puts his pair of headphones on Hayden, 4, at Landt Farms Sporting Clays. Sunday was the sporting clays benefit shoot and lunch for Hayden Stipe. 
 (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman-Review)

Hayden Stipe is only 4, but he can say goodbye and count to three in Polish.

That’s because the articulate little charmer has spent two of the last seven months in the Eastern European country, far from his Spokane Valley home. Poland is home to an intensive physical therapy complex called Euromed that offers hope that Hayden will one day walk on his own. Born three months premature, Hayden has cerebral palsy and cannot walk, stand or sit up without assistance.

“It’s possible that he will walk on his own. Nobody’s ever told me that he might not,” said his mother, Becky Stipe. “That’s what keeps us going. We believe he will.”

That’s why 39 participants roamed through Landt Farms north of Spokane on Sunday shooting sporting clays in a fund-raiser for Hayden. The targets are fired out to resemble the flight patterns of upland and lowland birds. Participants paid $50 each for the shoot, $30 of which will go to the Stipe family, Landt Farms owner Sally Scott said. More than $1,000 was raised.

Hayden’s been to Poland twice and each trip cost $10,000. The therapy he receives in Spokane racks up another $100 an hour. Hayden’s total therapy costs add up to about $50,000 per year. The Stipes’ health insurance covers about $3,200 per year, said Hayden’s dad, Steve Stipe, a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy.

In response, the Stipes have become skilled fund-raisers. Sunday’s event joins the two golf tournaments, walk-a-thon, motorcycle ride and garage sale that have already been held this year. An account has been set up at Farmers and Merchants Bank to take donations.

Since beginning therapy, Hayden has progressed from what Steve Stipe calls a “Commando crawl” to being able to stand with crutches. He can also take steps when someone supports his body.

The treatment in Poland uses something called an “Adeli” suit to restore proper patterns of movement and improve muscle tone and balance. It was adapted from the Russian space program, which used it to help cosmonauts regain muscle and strength lost in extended periods of weightlessness, the Stipes said.

“Independent mobility is the goal,” Stipe said. “He’ll always need some form of therapy. You don’t cure cerebral palsy, you just work around it.”

Steve Stipe joined his father, John, and two friends, Rick Sloan and Travis Hansen, in one of several groups for Sunday’s shoot. Sloan, who coaches Central Valley High School’s basketball team, said he and Stipe competed against each other years ago, playing for Central Valley and West Valley high schools, respectively.

Then they became friends.

Smiling, Sloan said Hayden is quite the flirt whenever Sloan’s wife and daughter are around.

“He’s just a good little boy with a good heart and an engaging personality,” Sloan said. “He’s just trying to be normal.”

The Stipes would like to see Sunday’s event and the other fund-raisers become annual. In fact, long-term, they’d like to see a foundation set up in Hayden’s name where families afflicted with cerebral palsy could one day turn for help. But for now, they’re focusing on their son.

“It’s difficult to do,” Becky Stipe said of the constant fund raising. “But he’s made it easy because everyone that meets him wants to help him.”