Sterner Family

Gracey's Harvest of Hope - September 27th - 5:30 - 8:00 pm

We invite you to join us this year as we support the Sterner family.

In December of 2007, Trista and Josh Sterner were blessed with the miracle birth of the their triplets. After the ups and downs of a complicated pregnancy, they were thrilled with the birth of their identical baby girls, Audrey and Courtney, and their baby boy, Ryan. At about 8 months old, after witnessing some developmental delays with Ryan, doctors suggested he have an MRI. It was at that time, Ryan was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. This devastating news was compounded about 6 months later, when it was suggested that Audrey also undergo an MRI due to similar developmental delays, and she too was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. This news was extremely difficult for Trista and Josh to bear. Now, they were not only dealing with the challenges of raising triplets, but also caring for and raising two children with special needs.

Currently, Audrey, Courtney, and Ryan are five years old. They each possess sweet, unique spirits and bring their family much joy. However, the challenges of Audrey and Ryan's cerebral palsy have been very difficult. They are constantly adapting their environments to meet their physical and cognitive needs.

Audrey and Ryan are involved in extensive daily therapy with the hopes of making them stronger and as Independent as possible. The main mode of transportation is their wheelchairs. It is great to provide movement for them, but challenging because the Sterner's home in not wheelchair accessible. They are in need of making changes to their home in order for Audrey and Ryan to maneuver their wheelchairs. Unfortunately, changes to their home are imminent and the continual medical and therapy costs are truly overwhelming.

In October of 2012, we had a successful event to support the Kellers and Struhs. We're happy to report that circumstances for both families have improved.

Marlo Keller

On August 21st beautiful, free-spirited, little 2 yr old Marlo suffered heart failure caused by acute Myocarditis. Later it was learned that this was brought on by a common virus (Parvo) infection that almost never causes this kind of outcome. Marlo was rushed to Primary Children’s Med Center where her heart arrested 3 more times before they could get her on a bypass system. She has recently been taken off of life support and has shown all the Doctors what a fighter she is. Marlo went from an ultra- energetic little girl one minute to near death and ICU the next. Last week, Marlo was moved into the Neuro-Trauma Unit. While she faces a long road of rehabilitation, she has shown a lot of improvement. She loves to laugh with her sisters and has even lifted her arm.

Amy Struhs

In November of 2011, Amy Struhs was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. After several months of Chemotherapy and Radiation, she and her family celebrated as she was pronounced to be in remission. Only 2 months later they found that the cancer had not responded to the Chemotherapy at all, but had spread to other places in her body. Amy is headed to seek treatment outside of the state in hopes of finding a treatment that will cure her of this invasive disease.