Saturday, October 02, 2004

Endurance Challenge to benefit 4-year-old

By YVONNE PASKE-SCHROEDER

Flynn

ANGOLA — Though she’s engaged in the battle of a lifetime, 4-year-old Alexis Flynn shows remarkable energy every day, said her mother, Erica.

The Montpelier, Ohio, family of four faces a daily crisis since Alexis’s diagnosis in July of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, the owners of an Angola business came up with a speedy way to help.

The Marckel family of Fremont will dedicate this year’s 24-hour Endurance Challenge at Rapid Raceway this weekend to raising funds to help the Flynns. Erica Flynn works with her daughter for Premier Resources, a member of Angola’s The Wickard Companies, Rhonda Marckel said.

“This will be our 13th annual 24-hour Endurance Challenge,” she said. “We raise money for a local charity. In the past we’ve helped the animal shelter, council on aging and homeless shelter, but this year we chose this little girl to raise money for because my daughter works with her mom.”

The Marckels launched the challenge first to raise money for the school’s Drug Awareness Resistance Education (DARE) program, and it evolved into a yearly event.

The Flynns discovered their daughter’s illness this summer. Because she had difficulty breathing, they made an emergency trip to Cameron Memorial Community Hospital in Angola, which led to the discovery of a tumor and collapsed lung. Her type of leukemia spread from the tumor, Erica said.

The illness will require weekly and sometimes daily chemotherapy treatments for two weeks at a time. Although Alexis will require a bone marrow transplant only in the event of a cancer relapse, life remains difficult for the family.

“Her white blood cell count is .2, so she can’t go anywhere or see anybody because she’s susceptible to catching everything. In spite of it, she has so much energy, I can’t believe it,” her mother said.

So far, her compromised immune system led to battles with pneumonia and colitis, among other threats from the illness.

Tony Flynn continues to work, but with Erica on a six-month leave from Premier Resources, the family looks ahead to some sky-high financial hurdles to cross.

“We have not received any balances yet, but her stay at St. Vincent’s in Toledo from Aug. 25-Sept. 5 was $93,000,” Erica said. “She was in for eight days after that for $53,000. We’re tithing 10 percent of what’s donated and at the end of the (treatment period of) 2 1/2 years, we will donate that back to the Leukemia Foundation or a similar charity.”

The Endurance Challenge will provide some zany fun for spectators and supporters while helping Alexis’s family, Marckel said. Teams of six people will take turns putting their drivers in a car for 24 hours. Since they’re running laps for time, race organizers injected a little fun by adding some complications to the race.

“The participants are in games during the competition, and some are while they’re driving,” Marckel said. “They have a 25-piece puzzle and they’ll have to pit and build the puzzle before they can go back out. There are a couple others where they’re losing laps and trying to do (the task) as fast as they can. It gets quite entertaining.”

Teams pay an entry fee of $550, from which the Marckels will donate the profit to Alexis’s medical problems. That usually amounts to $3,000-$4,000, Marckel said. Teams entering later received a reduced rate this year, because the Marckels ran out of shirts and sweatshirts included in the event package.

A cookout with hot dogs in the afternoon and chili in the evening will provide food for a donation. A DJ and bonfire will contribute free fun for spectators.

“It goes all night, and some people just show up to watch,” she said. “And it’s gonna be cold this year, 39 degrees on Saturday night, we hear. We’ve had rain and fog, but this could be the coldest year.”

The 24-hour Endurance Challenge runs from noon Saturday to noon Sunday at Rapid Raceway, 2175 W. C.R. 175N, Angola. Event organizers have room for one more team. Call Marckel at 833-1095 to claim the spot.

Donations for the Flynns may be made to the Alexis Nicole Flynn Foundation, Charter One Bank, 4939 N. Holland Sylvania Road, Sylvania, OH 43560, or by visiting Alexis’s Web site, caringbridge.org/oh/alexis. The site contains a list of upcoming benefits for Alexis and a journal of her progress.