Lake Lynn boy raises money to fight MS
A 9-year-old boy from Lake Lynn knows what it feels like to get down and dirty for a good cause. A.J. Stewart, the son of Allen and Kim Stewart, recently rode his dirt bike 100 laps around a racing track to raise money to help fight multiple sclerosis.
Last month, friends and family – including Stewart’s uncle, Jeff Groover of Dilliner, who suffers from MS – gathered to watch the marathon bike ride, which has raised more than $3,400 in donations so far.
At the finish line, Colleen McGuire, an MS Society representative, presented A.J. with a trophy. “I’m real proud of him,” said his father, Allan, who used his ties to the local racing community to organize the event.
“A.J. walked into the businesses and asked them for donations. He did all the talking by himself,’ he added.
Multiple sclerosis is a disorder of the nervous system, attacking the brain and the spinal cord. It can result in scarring of nerve tissue, followed by paralysis, muscle spasms, and speech disorders.
Donations are being forwarded to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which has programs to help people with MS. Some of the money will also be spent on finding a cure for MS. There is a chapter of the society in Allegheny County, which serves Fayette County and 13 surrounding counties.
Groover worked at Mylan Pharmaceuticals until he had to leave his job last year as his condition worsened.
A.J. said he wanted to do something to help people with MS after watching his uncle struggle with the disease.
“It’s been very sad because I don’t get to see my uncle as much as I did before he got worse,” said A.J.
For five hours, his uncle managed to see him ride his dirt bike around a mud-covered track near Reedsville, W. Va., donated by Paul Koontz Motorsport.
Joined by some elementary school companions for part of the mission, at the finish Stewart was covered with mud to the point of being almost unrecognizable. What could not be hidden, though, within all the muck, was A.J.’s heart.
“He’s always been a very giving child,” said his mother, Kim. “He participates in lots of charitable projects through his school, Mount Moriah Christian School.” He is a fourth-grade student at the school.
Stewart’s determination to do something to help his uncle’s condition did not surprise his dad, who has seen that persistence during the boy’s dirt bike races.
“Once he hit a hay bale in the final lap of a race where he had the lead. Needless to say, he lost the race. He eventually crossed the finish line covered in hay. But A.J. refused to give up. He’s like that,” said his father.
A.J. has been riding competitively for two years. Last year, he finished third in points among area riders his age in the Lightning Valley Series, which includes tracks in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland.
But those 100 laps on a Saturday in October may be the most important he has ever ridden, even though the race to find a cure for MS is far from over.
“I plan to do this again next year,” said A.J. “But this time I want to start finding sponsors a little earlier in the year.”
Donations are still being accepted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Allegheny Chapter, 1040 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219.
For more information about the disease, try the Internet at http://www.nmss.com/.