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16 | September 27, 2018 | The frankfort station news
frankfortstation.com
School news
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Tinley Park mom jogging
to raise awareness for
daughter’s rare disease
In 2006 there were only
200 known cases of congenital
central hypoventilation
syndrome worldwide. As of
2008, that number had increased
to 1,000, according
to the U.S. National Library
of Medicine. A decade later,
advocates still place that
number around 1,200.
Tinley Park native Laura
Brown and her husband
Jeff’s 18-month old daughter,
Josie, is one of them.
She was born with a mutated
PHOX2B gene which
medical researchers have
discovered helps the body
and brain regulate normal
breathing at the molecular
level. Effectively, Josie’s
autonomic nervous system
fails to connect signals that
tell the lungs to pump oxygen.
Simply going to sleep
can be fatal.
“There were unexplained
periods of respiratory distress
where she wasn’t
breathing right,” Brown recalled.
“It was really scary.”
A “fighter” as described
by Laura, Josie was born
five weeks premature and
spent close to five of her first
six months of life in the Pediatric
Intensive Care Unit
at Hope Children’s Hospital.
A forward-thinking doctor
correctly predicted Josie’s
respiratory issues, which at
this point had required the
use of a ventilation machine,
could be CCHS. An intricate
genetic testing process
would later confirm.
To bring awareness of
CCHS Laura has organized
“Jogging for Josie” in an effort
to raise $12,000 for the
nonprofit CCHS Network
by partaking in the Chicago
Marathon on Oct. 7. The
number was doubled after
reaching her initial goal of
$6,000, or $5 for each of the
1,200 known cases.
“She’s one tough cookie
— my hero for sure,” Laura
said.
Reporting by Cody Mroczka,
Editor. For more, visit
TinleyJunction.com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
‘Control beyond the grave’
The old Boy Scout motto,
“Be prepared,” can be applied
to many things in life,
and can especially be applied
to death.
Contemplating one’s own
mortality can be an uncomfortable
thing, but facing the
questions about what would
happen to those left behind
is essential to ensure that
those loved ones receive
what one’s final wishes
wanted them to receive.
That’s why Skye Bergeson
and Richard Rappold
held an estate planning seminar
at Mokena Community
Public Library District Sept.
18. Bergeson is a financial
advisor with Edward Jones
in Mokena, and Rappold
is an attorney who lives in
Frankfort and practices out
of Chicago.
According to Bergeson,
an estate plan should involve
the services of a financial
advisor to help manage
assets, a tax professional to
keep an eye on the tax laws
to make sure those assets
are protected under everchanging
tax code, and an
attorney to help keep assets
from being bogged down in
court and not fulfilling one’s
wishes in a timely manner.
Any estate plan should be
specific to an individual, as
everyone’s circumstances
and goals will be different;
however, the individual,
along with the estate planning
team of the financial
advisor, tax professional
and attorney, should monitor
and re-evaluate the plan
every six months to a year,
Burgeson said.
Reporting by T.J. Kremer
III, Editor. For more, visit
MokenaMessenger.com
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Friends, family rally around
youth with rare blood
disorder
As a nurse, Orland Park
resident Mandy Granat has
devoted her professional life
to mitigating the pain and
discomfort of those in her
care.
Most difficult of all was
being confronted by medical
uncertainty regarding
her 11-year-old son, Luke
Granat.
When he was 8, Luke
started to exhibit symptoms
like abdominal pain and
nausea.
“We spent about a year
having him be misdiagnosed,”
Mandy said. “They
thought it was allergic reactions.
As a nurse, it made
sense at the time. When he
had the abdominal pain,
he spent five days at Hope
Children’s Hospital and the
tests came back normal.”
The severity of the reactions
intensified. After a series
of complex blood tests,
doctors discovered that
Luke suffers from a rare genetic
blood disorder called
Hereditary Angioedema.
“I never even heard of it,”
Mandy said.
On average, only about
one in 10,000-50,000 people
suffer from HAE.
In May, Mandy and Luke
traveled to Vienna, Austria,
to attend a patient and doctor
symposia.
Luke also is a member of
the Youth Leadership Council
for the USA HAEA. In
July, he appeared at Capitol
Hill to advocate for increased
federal funding for
the disease.
The family also has
sought to raise awareness
closer to home. In 2017,
the family held a 5K run in
Danada Forest Preserve in
Wheaton. Nearly 30 people
turned up.
The family held another
event this August. Mobilizing
Facebook and other social
media to shape word of
mouth around Orland Park
and Tinley Park, the number
jumped up to 130 this year.
“He needs the support of
his friends more than anything
at this stage,” Mandy
said. “The event made him
feel so good.”
Reporting by Patrick Z.
McGavin, Freelance Reporter.
For more, visit OPPrairie.com.
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
After Senior Night score,
West boys golf excited for
upcoming regional
A back injury kept senior
Collin Phelps from playing
golf for 10 days.
Lincoln-Way West’s Senior
Night on Sept. 18 was
his first time swinging a
club since suffering that injury.
Against Plainfield East
at The Sanctuary, he didn’t
know what to expect.
“My mentality for today
was just to enjoy it and not
care what I shoot because
no one was expecting me
to do good having been out
a week and a half,” Phelps
said.
As some golfers may take
a round or two to work back
to normalcy on the golf
course, it only took Phelps
a few shots. The four-year
varsity member carded a 38,
which is under his scoring
average of 38.5, to contribute
to a winning score of
151-193 over the Bengals.
“I kept my swing and
didn’t really over swing
because my back still hurts
a little bit,” he said. “I just
kept calm.”
The team’s only other senior,
Dylan Adair, fittingly
was the medalist with a 36.
Phelps’ younger brother,
Zack, shot a 37, and a 40
was the fourth posted score
by both Jason Lange and
Ethan Healy.
West will join a star-studded
cast at the Joliet Central
Regional Tuesday, Oct. 2,
at Inwood Golf Course in
Joliet. SWSC leader Lockport,
Lincoln-Way Central,
Lincoln-Way East and Providence
are some of the teams
in the nine-school field vying
for the Top 3 spots to
advance to sectionals.
“If they keep up these
scores, we’ll see,” West
coach Donna Thompson
said. “I’ll be happy if we go
to sectionals as a team.”
Reporting by James Sanchez,
Editor. For more, visit
NewLenoxPatriot.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Light pole falls on, injures
three Butler School students
A light pole fell and injured
three fourth-grade
students after striking them
while they were at recess
Sept. 17 outside Butler
School in Lockport, according
to Homer Community
Consolidated School District
33C.
The district posted a message
on its Facebook page
Monday afternoon stating
that all three children were
evaluated at a local hospital
and were “okay.”
Homer 33C Superintendent
Craig Schoppe said
the incident happened at approximately
11:40 a.m. in
front of the school.
“The district’s first concern
is the safety and wellbeing
of our students,” the
district said in a statement,
which was provided to The
Horizon on Sept. 19. “Due
to the fact that this involves
individual students, and we
are currently investigating
the incident, the district has
no further comment.”
Jeff Scellato, of Lockport,
is the stepfather of one of
the children, Peyton Forrest,
who was injured by the
light pole. He said Forrest
was coming out of a door
to recess and observed three
Please see NFYN, 17
Ball state university
Frankfort native helps
produce documentary
Brooke Braun, a 2018
graduate of Ball State University,
worked with a team
of 41 students to produce
the documentary “From
Normal to Extraordinary:
Ball State’s First Century,”
which debuted Sept. 6 during
the university’s Centennial
kickoff event.
The film includes interviews
with historians, as
well as past university presidents
and notable alumni,
and Braun had a hands-on
role in the documentary’s
production.
Belmont university
Frankfort student enrolls in
largest class yet
Kate Bruder enrolled
at Belmont University this
semester as part of the largest
class yet. The university
began the fall 2018 semester
by welcoming a recordbreaking
8,318 students to
the campus, representing a
65 percent enrollment increase
in the past decade.
northern illinois university
Four Frankfort students
graduate
Eddie Carroll received
a bachelor of science degree,
Linda Fehrenbacher
earned an educational specialist
degree, Barbara
Green received a master
of science in education
and Colin Holler earned a
bachelor of general studies.
The four students were
among more than 650 students
to earn degrees from
the university in August.
School news is compiled by
Editor Nuria Mathog