Medical problems force family’s move

The three kids from Shoshone County flew radio-controlled airplanes like pros, which Loren Hall, secretary of the Coeur d’Alene Aero Modeling Society, would have enjoyed more if one of the teenage boys wasn’t bent over with an obvious back problem.

“I was so impressed with their ability, but you could tell there was a problem,” Hall said. “He was hunched over, frail and thin.”

Hall learned the boy has a form of spina bifida, a lifelong malady that occurs in the first month of fetal development. The spinal column doesn’t close completely and causes a range of problems. Hall got to know the boy, his family and their struggles and convinced his model plane group to help them.

“They’re the nicest people you’re ever going to meet,” Hall said Wednesday. “They’re so appreciative of everything you do. And they won’t ask for help.”

The boy’s father shared his story with The Spokesman-Review, but wants to remain anonymous. Health problems are personal, he said, and he doesn’t want his family embarrassed. His family plans to leave the state next week.

“This situation is pretty serious,” the dad said. “The climate here just isn’t working for him.”

The boy, who’s 17, was born with his spine curved sharply inward. His skeleton grew crooked. His backbone is pressing on his lungs and heart.

“Intellectually, he’s sharp as a tack,” the dad says. “He’s a tremendous inspiration.”

The family left Utah for North Idaho six years ago for access to doctors in Spokane. They learned surgery may eventually help the boy, but it’s risky.

“They put in rods and cables, break the ribs and back,” the dad said. “They have to open front and back. The risk is astronomical.”

The family chooses for the boy to continue to grow and hopes his skeleton adapts to the space needs of his internal organs.

“It’s trying to give him more room,” the dad said. “We know others have gotten through without surgery.”

The family met Hall at the model plane group’s flying field two years ago. The boy was starting to have trouble breathing. His dad blamed the trouble on the wet weather in North Idaho as much as the boy’s spine. The boy hadn’t had breathing problems in drier southern Utah, the dad said.

Medicaid supplied an oxygen machine that concentrates air through a mesh filter and gives off pure oxygen. It helps, but the family decided a return to Utah was wise. Medicaid wouldn’t allow the oxygen concentrator to leave the state. That’s when the model plane club _CAMS_ stepped in.

The 85 club members quickly donated $900 to buy the boy his own oxygen concentrator. Now Hall is trying to raise at least $1,000 to help the family move 850 miles south. Ideally, Hall wants to hire a moving company. The family has one old pickup truck with 360,000 miles on it. They plan to take with them only what fits in the truck, and the model airplanes with 5-foot wingspans won’t fit, the dad told Hall.

“I won’t accept that the kids have to give up their model planes because there’s no room,” Hall said. “I’ll get them to them somehow.”