OP_092718

16 | September 27, 2018 | The orland park prairie news
opprairie.com
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 Tin
leyJunction.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
ever-changing 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 reevaluate
the plan every six months
to a year, Burgeson said.
Reporting by T.J. Kremer III, Editor.
For more, visit MokenaMessenger.com
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Frankfort library program addresses
healthy habits
It is a disease with no cure and
no prevention, but it is not without
hope.
Hadi Finerty, of the Alzheimer’s
Association, met with seniors Sept.
13 at the Frankfort Public Library
District to address the scary reality
of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Finerty said most times she gives
the presentation, attendees want to
know if they will get the disease or
if they already have it.
“They’re looking to see what the
signs are and [if] they have any of
the signs,” she said.
The thing is, sometimes there is
not a definite answer to their questions.
While family history and genetics
can play a part in determining
whether someone will be diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s or another form
of dementia in their lifetimes, just
because someone is genetically predisposed
to get the disease does not
mean they will.
Instead of dwelling on statistics
and worrying about it, Finerty said it
is important for people to talk about
it and learn as much as they can.
“Whether that’s talking about it to
your family, talking about it to your
spouse [or] talking about it to your
doctor, talk about it, because everybody
automatically assumes it’s Alzheimer’s
or dementia, and it might
not even be that,” she said.
The general effects of aging can
make it hard to recall details like
names, places or words, but in most
cases people eventually remember
those things if it is just age-related
forgetfulness. With Alzheimer’s and
dementia, she said, it is different.
Reporting by Amanda Stoll, Assistant
Editor. For more, visit FrankfortSta
tion.com.
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
After Senior Night score, West boys
golf excited for 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 well-being 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 children standing on
the base of the pole, and Scellato
said Forrest told him a teacher told
those children to get off.
Forrest was standing further away
from the pole when it then came
down and hit him in his back, according
to what he told Scellato.
The 9-year-old suffered a fractured
rib as a result and was transported
via ambulance to Silver
Cross Hospital, as were the other
two children, Scellato said.
“Thank God no one was killed,
a teacher or student or anybody,”
Scellato said.
Reporting by Thomas Czaja, Contributing
Editor. For more, visit LockportLe
gend.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Man charged for anti-Muslim
vandalism in Homer Glen
A man has been charged for vandalizing
a sidewalk with Islamophobic
graffiti Sept. 17 in front of a
Muslim family’s Homer Glen home,
according to a Sept. 20 release from
the Will County Sheriff’s Office.
Patrick J. Goshorn Jr., 26, of
13057 Finch Court in Homer Glen,
was charged with one count of felony
criminal damage to property and
one count of felony criminal damage
to state-supported property by the
sheriff’s office. The case was turned
over to the Will County State’s Attorney’s
Office for review, and the office
announced additional charges of
a felony and misdemeanor count of
criminal defacement to property and
one count of a hate crime, bringing
the total to five charges.
One of the homeowners originally
called police about 8 p.m.
Sept. 17 after discovering the graffiti
outside their home in the 13000
block of W. Sparrow Court, according
to Will County Sheriff’s Office
spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer.
In addition to the graffiti —
which mocked the common Muslim
phrase “peace be upon him” with an
obscene variation — the taillights,
trunk and bumper of the homeowners’
vehicle, a 2013 Toyota, were
covered in brown spray paint, according
to Hoffmeyer.
After appearing in video court on
Thursday, Sept. 20, Goshorn had
his bond set at $100,000, with 10
percent to apply. A condition of his
bond states that if he is able to bond
out, he will be released with an electronic
monitoring device and will
not be allowed to be within 3,000
feet of the vandalized home.
Goshorn’s next court date is
set for Oct. 11 at the Will County
Courthouse.
Reporting by Thomas Czaja, Editor.
For more, visit HomerHorizon.com.