Annual trail ride is major fund raiser in the fight against childhood disease
THE ST JUDE TRAIL RIDE & COUNTRY CONCERT IS SATURDAY MARCH 21, 2009 AT 9:30 A.M. KAISER FARMS, 10 MILES EAST OF ROBERTSDALE ON HIGHWAY 90 PERFORMING: AMANDA PRICHETTTHE ALVARADO ROAD SHOWDON'T HAVE A HORSE? TAKE THE HAY RIDE INSTEAD! SUGGESTED DONATION: $15CONTACT: LARRY YORK 251-947-7605 He is a young man of few words... at this moment, sitting astride a small pony in the stable of the Larry York farm.
"Have you met Noah, Trigger?" I ask the horse, in a vain effort to get the 4 year old to talk.
Outside, the rain pours. Noah and Trigger and I had hoped for a better day today, so we could practice our trail riding... you know, for the "Saddle Up for St. Jude" Trail Ride in Baldwin County this Saturday. I ask Noah to tell you about it, but I don't think it would do any good...
"No... he's a nodder," an attractive young lady tells me.
"He's a nodder?"
That's Amanda Pritchett. She'll be opening for the Alvarado Road Show country concert, also part of the ride. It's a fun event... but Amanda knows the serious issue the trail ride supports.
"It would be heart breaking, you know," says Amanda. "I don't know how I would handle it. So I'm just supportive of the parents who have to deal with this."
And that's why this quiet kid is here today. To help us appeal to your to take part in the trail ride. It's a major fund raiser for St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, which treats, free of charge, children with life threatening illnesses. Noah, his parents and his younger brothers know all about St. Jude. Noah was diagnosed with Leukemia at 15 months. He underwent chemotherapy for 146 weeks. Eventually, under the watchful eyes of the doctors at St Jude much of that treatment was moved to Mobile...
"...which entailed lots of hospital visits," says his mom, Allison Jackson. "If he ever had a fever we had to go to the emergency room..."
How could she have done it without St Jude?"
"We couldn't have! I couldn't imagine being anywhere else but at St. Jude. It's the best place on earth."
And their work continues.
"There's over 55 children being treated right now from this area," says Kim Neal. Kim is editor of Baldwin County Parent magazine... which had just published a story on another youngster being treated by St. Jude. But last Monday, the battle ended for little Caleb Parsons.
"They brought him out for the photo shoot, we had a great time with him... and then progressively started getting more headaches and things went down hill from there."
But with the help of St. Jude, there are more days for these children to enjoy. It may be raining today, but with support, they know, a better day will come. In Baldwin County, Here's Darwin, NBC 15 News.
