Source:  Starherald   

ALLIANCE — A young boy and his family are holding onto hope, seeking prayers and help for his chance at a normal childhood.

Six-year-old Braden Frohman, a kindergarten student at Emerson Elementary, suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of a birth trauma. Braden’s mother, Stephanie said he was diagnosed at age 2 and is confined to a wheelchair.

He has no use of his arms and is unable to feed himself, brush his teeth, crawl or dress himself. His speech is impaired, she added.

 “Cognitively, there is nothing wrong with Braden,” Stephanie said. “In fact he is a very smart little boy, but he experiences physical limitations.”

Braden can use a computer that the Alliance Public Schools purchased for him. He controls it with his eyes and it talks, enabling him to communicate.

In addition to Braden, Stephanie and her husband, Aaron, have two other children; Keegan, 8, and Brooklyn, 3 months. For the last four years the family has been traveling between the Shriners Hospital in Minneapolis and the Children’s Hospital in Omaha seeking medical treatment for Braden.

“But for the past year my husband, myself and family have been not only conducting a lot of research but have been applying, sending medical records and doing everything possible in an effort to gain additional medical care,” Stephanie said.

Finally, after applying at numerous hospitals, the family received a call that Braden had been accepted to a hospital in Hang Zhou, China, to receive cutting-edge medical treatment not yet done in the United States.

“We were so excited because not only were they the first hospital to accept Braden’s case but they were among one of the ones we were very interested in,” Stephanie said, “and they also have a representative from Denver on staff, making it easy to communicate.”

Braden will undergo stem cell injections from an umbilical cord. Doctors are unable to guarantee that he will be able to walk, but they have told the family that Braden is a very good candidate for the treatment and they are very hopeful.

“Although the doctors can not make any guarantees, we cannot give up hope and we must try everything possible,” Stephanie said.

Stephanie’s cousin, Kelly Steinman McCracken, said the treatment requires Braden and one parent to live in China for at least 40 days, and the family has to cover all of the expenses. She is spearheading a fund-raising benefit for Braden on Saturday, May 30, at the Alliance Eagles Club involving a spaghetti feed, silent auction, bake sale and a dance with live entertainment. All proceeds will be given to Braden’s family for his trip to China.  

The event will kick off at 5 p.m. with the spaghetti feed, silent auction and bake sale. The spaghetti feed and bake sale will end at 8 p.m.; however, the silent auction will be open to bids until 10 p.m.

In addition, The Players Band of Alliance will provide live entertainment for the dance from 8 p.m. to midnight without asking for pay.

“We have had an overwhelming response from the community,” McCracken said, “and numerous Scottsbluff and Alliance businesses have been wonderful about donating items for the silent auction.”

In fact, none that were asked upon to participate refused, she added.

Aaron’s grandfather, Toad Frohman, donated all the beef for the spaghetti feed. Safeway and Harris Sales of Alliance provided the remainder of the food, and Marg Turek with the Holiday Inn Express of Alliance donated four pool parties valued at $100 each for the silent auction. McCracken said numerous individuals, businesses, groups and organizations also helped. . “Everyone — from family, friends and the people of the Panhandle — have just been so gracious,” McCracken said. “Now we can only hope that we receive just as an overwhelming response for the fundraising event.”

Anyone interested in donating items either for the silent auction or bake sale or wishing to assist in any way can contact McCracken at (308) 760-8479.