Efforts raising money for 3-year-old’s treatment
The front parking lot of the Spokane Valley Police Department was the scene for a rainy-day fund-raiser to benefit 3-year-old Hayden Stipe, son of Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Stipe.
The preschooler was born three months premature and has cerebral palsy. Hayden can’t stand, walk or sit on his own, and his parents are pursuing nontraditional therapy at Euromed in Mielno, Poland, in hopes of helping him gain strength and mobility.
Insurance companies typically don’t pay for alternative treatments or fully fund all of his local physical therapy program, so the family’s medical bills are piling up.
Carol Herrmann, a colleague at the Valley Precinct, organized the rummage sale to help the family.
“It’s for a good cause. People are very generous,” said Herrmann.
Rain didn’t deter supporters, who turned out in droves to donate far more than the asking price for housewares and coffee.
“Inspector (Dave) Wiyrick came down and purchased boxes of Christmas tins that he makes little portable fires with for when he’s backpacking,” Herrmann said.
The sale raised around $2,000, which was added to $573 raised during a daylong fund-raiser at Ron’s Drive-In.
The family has embarked on an extensive fund-raising campaign to help pay for visits to Euromed, where their son has four weeks of intensive therapy, lasting six hours a day, six days per week. The clinic uses what is called an Adeli suit, which was adapted from the Russian space program to help cosmonauts retain muscle mass during long periods in zero gravity. The suit’s flexible cords adjust to form resistance that is said to exercise and build muscles that the child needs for mobility.
As family support manager for United Cerebral Palsy of Oregon and Southwestern Washington, Helene Tolliver routinely advises parents on options for helping their children.
Tolliver has heard of people having tremendous results with Euromed’s treatment and of people having poor results. When the results are good, medical professionals haven’t determined if the success is due to the intensity of the exercises or the Adeli suit.
It’s a challenging program in that it costs around $10,000 per visit, and families must return several times a year, she said. Additionally, caretakers have to maintain a rigorous schedule of physical therapy when they return to the United States or gains will be lost.
California and Michigan offer programs similar to Euromed’s, but lack the patented Adeli suit.
As the parent of a 10-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy who died last year, Tolliver understands the dilemma that parents face when trying to give their children a better life. She advises families to research their options.
Becky Stipe, Hayden’s mom, said the family returned from their recent visit to Poland heartened by Hayden’s progress. “We saw some encouraging changes and gains in his ability.”
She and her husband are determined to do whatever it takes to help their son, and appreciate the outpouring of community support, Stipe said.
“We cannot ever thank people enough or know how to repay them. It’s tremendous to see the heart this community has and what they’ve done to help this little boy.”
To learn more about Hayden, visit www.helphaydenwalk.com. self end