Fourth graders fundraise to help disabled teenager

Sometimes, it takes a great group of kids to inspire others to lend a helping hand. Katherine Frank’s fourth grade class at Tecumseh Acres Elementary has been busy making bracelets and selling jump ropes at lunch in order to raise money for local girl Hannah Frey, who has an unbalanced translocation of chromosomes 13 and 18. When these two chromosomes are altered, they lead to complications. She struggles with epilepsy, along with several different types of seizures and a thyroid disorder. She will be 15 at the end of October. The money the class raises will go towards funding a special adaptive therapy tricycle for Frey, which will enable her to move on her own instead of being stroller-bound. The bike costs $5,000. So far, the class has raised over $75. Hanna’s mother, Beth Frey, was told that her child wouldn’t survive long after birth. “Typically when you have those two chromosomes [18 and 13], those children don’t survive. I was told she wasn’t going to make it out of the delivery room,” Beth noted. “Here she is, fifteen years later. This year she had surgery on her Achilles, and what I’m hoping with the bike is that it will stretch her muscles. That’s why she needs the bike, so she doesn’t need the stroller when she goes somewhere. She doesn’t do well with walking, so the bike will build those leg muscles so she can eventually walk around. Society will look at her with more respect, because she isn’t being pushed around in a stroller. It will make her more independent.” Although Hannah is nonverbal, Beth says that she loves her routine, and is an average teenager despite limitations. “She can’t go out and do things that your typical kid can do. She couldn’t walk until she was five. But she’s very happy,” Beth stated. Since the class began raising money, others have also started fundraising for Hannah. Local resident Shonda Grimes is selling Party Lite candles at http://www.partylite.biz/pixiecandles, with the hostess name being “Help Hannah.” Beth was astounded when Frank’s class came forward to help Hannah purchase a bike. “I never thought that, especially little kids, would get how thoughtful and how meaningful it is to give, so it’s a great lesson for them,” Beth said. “When the kids stepped in, other people came forward and said they wanted to help. It took the kids to get the adults to help, and that’s really amazing.” Hannah has a YouCaring page set up to fundraise for her bike, which can be found at https://youcaring.com/hannah-frey-410931. “Hannah will never be able to tell somebody thank you, but it means the world to our family,” Beth said. “Every child wants a bike for Christmas, and Hannah never got one. Now she can have what every child ever wanted, and that is a bike.”