Radiothon raises $269K for children: 3/1

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Radiothon raises $269K for children

by Ashley Barker
Public Relations

It's been 15 months since Zach Szala was bitten twice by a canebrake rattlesnake while playing at Wannamaker County Park in North Charleston with his family.

Zach Szala, 9, talks to disc jockey Dusty at the WEZL studios during the Cares for Kids radiothon benefitting the MUSC Children's Hospital. Zach spent more than a month at MUSC after being bitten by a snake in Wannamaker County Park in November 2011.

Zach, who was 8 years old at the time of the bite, spent three weeks of his 38-day stay at MUSC in the intensive care unit before being sent home in a wheelchair to relearn how to walk and eat, according to his mother, Elizabeth.

Other than some stiffness and flexibility issues, which taekwondo is helping, Zach, a fourth-grader at Howe Hall Arts Infused Magnet Elementary School in Goose Creek, is back to living a normal life.

He recently visited an aquarium that had a canebrake rattlesnake on display, has ventured back out into the woods to play and was heard around Charleston on WEZL 103.5 and Y102.5 radio stations urging people to donate money to the MUSC Children's Hospital.

Five-year-old twins, Gracie, left, and Annie Loyd, visited the Y102.5 studios Feb. 21 to talk about the Children's Hospital during the radiothon. The sisters were born 11.5 weeks premature and spent a long time in the neonatal intensive care unit. Annie was released from the hospital after 31 days, while Gracie spent 77 days at MUSC.

Zach, his sister, Abby, and his mother joined more than 20 other families who told their stories about getting care at the MUSC Children's Hospital during the fifth annual WEZL and Y102.5 Cares for Kids radiothon, Feb. 21-22.

"MUSC was amazingly fantastic," Elizabeth said. "He got bad fast. The damage to his little system was extensive and those doctors, respiratory therapists and nurses, they were all wonderful."

A total of $269,714 was raised during the two-day radiothon, according to Amy Gordon, associate director of special events in the Office of Development and co-director of the Children's Miracle Network.

The Children's Hospital Fund enlists community support for three primary purposes: support research, the development of treatment programs and Child Life Services.

For information on donating to the Children's Hospital, visit http://www.musckids.com.

Friday, March 1, 2013

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