Youngsters Rock to Help Brothers with Muscular Dystrophy

ERMA — A room full of preschoolers were rocking in rocking chairs and watching Veggie Tales videos to raise money for two little boys that have been diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy.
A Rock-a-Thon took place at Seashore Children’s Learning Center at Seashore Community Church April 8 starting with the preschoolers who would be replaced later in the day by older students, who after school, who would rock for an hour. Pledges were taken for either a flat donation or for the number of times the participant rocked.
The event was to raise money for Jake Fritz, age 5, and Ryan Fritz, age 2, both of whom were diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy (MD) a year and a half ago. The prognosis for these brothers is being confined to a wheelchair by age 10, quadriplegia in their teens and a life expectancy only into their early 20s.
Money raised from the event will contribute to making the boys’ house wheelchair accessible including building ramps, widening doorways and removing walls.
The boys have been diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, the most severe form of the disease.
The boys are the nephews of Cara Schanz whose children attend Seashore Children’s Learning Center. Schanz’s twins were in rocking chairs raising money for their cousins.
She said the funds would be used for items not covered by insurance such as home alterations. The Fritz family lives in Pottstown, Pa.
The boys are being aligned with a medical team including a neurologist, cardiologist, psychologist and physical therapists, said Schanz. She said Jake has been prescribed steroids to extend the life of his muscles.
The first sign of a problem was Jake falling down a lot and having difficulty keeping up with other children.
“Once the five year old was diagnosed, because it is a gene passed through the mom, right away they wanted to test the two year old,” said Schanz. “It is basically a missing chromosome that they identified in both of them.”
The boy’s bodies will stop producing a protein called Dystrophin, which is what keeps muscles “glued” together. Without Dystrophin, the boys will start to lose all their muscle strength.
Families dealing with MD tap out their insurance coverage at some point, she said. Their home’s bathroom needs to be completed remodeled to accommodate wheelchairs and special fixtures installed, said Schanz.
Other items looming in the future, the need for a wheelchair accessible van and heart and respiratory care because MD will affect the muscles of the heart and lungs.
“The prospect now is they don’t have a cure and it’s a 20 year lifespan which is pretty short,” she said.
Schanz said the family wants to make the time the boys have “really good.”
“If I know they have three more years to walk, I want to go on trips with them for these three years…” she said.
Katrina Johnson, who organized the event, said the learning center held a fundraiser for MD each year and this year we able to put faces and names with the cause. She said one student, Judy, emptied her piggybank and also received $131 of pledges in her neighborhood.
Learning Center Director Brenda Harrison said $1,500 had been raised by 10 a.m.
Contributions can be dropped off at Seashore Community Church of the Nazarene, 446 Seashore Road in Erma.