MATPA Supports "Pull'n for Johnny B."
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Holbrook - Without any warning, 14-year-old Johnny Burgess had a stroke while running around in the woods with his friends.
On Sunday, Feb. 17, Johnny’s father Scott and another father were inside Scott’s office at his construction company, ATL Construction in East Bridgewater, while Johnny, Anthony Adamo, and four other boys were outside behind the business.
Scott said that he was doing some paperwork and talking to his friend when Anthony called Scott to tell him to come out back because something was wrong with his son.
“I knew instantly that he had had a stroke,” Scott said.
The left side of Johnny’s face was droopy and he couldn’t move his left arm and leg as well.
He also had very slurred speech.
Anthony told Scott that Johnny said he had to lie down because he had a very bad headache.
Johnny told his father that he had pain above his right eye, Scott said.
An ambulance brought Johnny and Scott to Brockton Hospital.
Medical staff speculated that Johnny had suffered a stroke, and within four minutes he was taken by med-flight to Boston Children’s Hospital.
Johnny was given a battery of tests there and stayed in the intensive care unit for five days.
He was then sent to the neurology area for nine days before being transferred to Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston.
Johnny continues to be a patient at Franciscan Hospital and receives multiple therapy treatments six days a week.
Five days after the stroke, Johnny first showed a little movement on his left side and since then, each day he makes a bit more progress.
As of Monday, he was up to walking 1,000 feet.
When a therapist asks Johnny to do 10 repetitions of an exercise, he does 11 or 12, Scott said.
Scott has been impressed with the quality of health care his son has received at both children’s hospitals.
He, his wife Diane, his sister-in-law Holly Burgess, and his stepdaughter Kim Perna-Aiello take turns staying with Johnny in the hospital so that Johnny is never without a family member.
Living partly at the hospital and trying to get back home to do everyday things such as work is a different way of living, Scott said.
Scott and his wife usually pass one another on their visits back and forth to the hospital and at work.
Diane is the office manager for their construction company.
They spend time with each other about two nights a week, if that, Scott said.
Although Scott wouldn’t wish this experience on anybody, he said the experience has been a good one because of the care his son has received.
The medical staff at the hospital has reached out to the entire family, he said.
Scott described Johnny as being an active kid.
The eighth grader enjoys riding dirt bikes and plays town league baseball.
He also belongs to Boy Scout Troop #56 and is on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout, Scott said.
Since his father owns a construction company, Johnny has had experience driving all kinds of trucks at construction sites (not on the road) since he was 10 years old.
One of his favorite activities is truck pulling. The truck, a four wheel drive, 900 horsepower vehicle, pulls a 45,000 pound sled hooked to the back of it.
Johnny and his father belong to the Massachusetts Truck Pullers Association, and Johnny was going to compete this summer throughout New England and New York in eight competitions.
Scott said that under insurance regulations, Johnny can drive the truck because he’s older than 13 on private property on a track. The truck is rigged with safety apparatus and can be shut off remotely, if needed.
For the competition, the truck attempts to pull the sled for 300 feet with the goal being to go beyond that.
Each truck takes turns individually and if two or more competitors reach past 300 feet, they each give it another try. The winner is whoever goes the furthest in that round.
Because Johnny is a truck puller, the fundraiser that was organized for the family by Jim Cummings and Dale and Jean Lewis is called “Pull’n for Johnny B.”
Scott was told by Johnny’s doctors that they don’t see why Johnny wouldn’t make a full recovery.
However, they are not sure when Johnny will reach that point, which could mean that Johnny will reach his yearly quota of therapy treatments per his insurance coverage and still need more treatment.
Johnny’s house will also need to be equipped with grab bars and other equipment to help him get around since he is in a wheelchair now.
Johnny is tentatively set to be discharged on April 24.
To cover the expenses of the equipment and changes that will need to be made to their home and for medical expenses incurred and not covered, Cummings came up with the idea to hold a fundraiser.
Cummings is the scoutmaster of Troop #56 and a friend of the Burgess family.
Scott couldn’t believe the generosity of the gesture.
“I was just amazed,” he said. “I was floored. I couldn’t thank him enough.”
The “Pull’n for Johnny B.” fundraiser will take place on April 18 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the William B. Dalton American Legion Post #137.
The evening will feature food, music, and raffles.
There will be no charge at the door, but donations would be appreciated and children will be welcome to come, too, Cummings said.
Johnny’s been kept busy at the hospital.
From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., he has two sessions of physical therapy, two sessions of occupational therapy, tutoring, and speech therapy.
His abilities are improving daily and his speech is 95 percent back, Scott said.
Johnny has also had many visitors.
The six foot, one inch, 250 pound student at Holbrook Junior/Senior High School, whose nickname is Beast, averaged 23 visitors a day the first two weeks he was in the hospital, Scott said.
He has roughly 150 get well cards hanging on his hospital room wall.
“He’s a special kid,” Scott said. “He’s one in a million.”
Johnny recently underwent an interview with Blue Hills Regional Technical High School from his hospital room with a school representative.
The interview was part of a four-step process to get accepted into the school for next fall, Scott said.
Unfamiliar with medical terminology, Scott said that Johnny’s doctors believe that the blood clot that caused his son’s stroke originated in his heart.
They are 75 percent sure that Johnny has a hole in his heart that needs to be sealed in order for a stroke not to reoccur.
Johnny will undergo heart surgery on May 22 at Children’s Hospital.
Those interested in making a donation for the Burgess family can do so by sending a check payable to Friends of Johnny Burgess at Mount Washington Savings Bank, 501 Southhampton Street, South Boston, MA 02127.