WILTON — With medical bills approaching $75,000 for an uninsured local family, co-workers at G.D. Cushing School are looking to help the family.

Teachers and staff at Cushing are organizing a community spaghetti benefit dinner from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at Mt. Blue Middle School in Farmington for the family of a 14-year old Mt. Blue High School freshman, Jaime Schanck, who fought a severe MRSA infection this summer.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium that is resistant to many antibiotics.

Jaime’s mother, Rhonda, is an education technician and librarian at Cushing where her co-workers decided to help the family, kindergarten teacher Heidi Osgood said Tuesday.

Jaime, a devoted athlete, became ill early in July while playing in three summer programs, his mother said. He was involved with Babe Ruth baseball and Mt. Blue soccer and basketball.

Jaime began limping during a baseball practice and had a fever. After a couple of trips to the emergency room at Franklin Memorial Hospital, he was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, caused by a MRSA infection in the bone marrow of his ankle, his mother said.

He was treated with antibiotics for five days at FMH but did not improve. The family transferred him to Eastern Maine Medical Center where he underwent two surgeries to drain the infected area so that the antibiotics could work, Rhonda said.

  Jaime was admitted to EMMC on July 17 and went home on July 29, still taking oral antibiotics, she said. He continued with another eight weeks of antibiotics and regular checkups in Bangor, a three-hour drive from Wilton, along with twice-weekly physical therapy sessions.

The total cost of treatment hasn’t been figured yet but the couple believes it is nearing $75,000, if not more, said Rodney Schanck.

 
A self-employed plumber, he lost his position at Wausau Paper in Jay late last spring, leaving the family without insurance. As a librarian at the school, Rhonda puts in regular hours but not enough to obtain school insurance, she said.

While Mt. Blue High School refers uninsured school athletes to a moderate-cost insurance if there is no family insurance, no referral was made for Jaime during the summer programs.

The couple indicated self-pay for medical services on the sports forms and no other insurance options were given, Rhonda said. The family previously had used the school insurance, she said.

Jaime was able to begin school on crutches and is becoming stronger, Rhonda said. The crutches are now gone, although he still wears a boot to protect the bone in the ankle, which is still swollen and aches, she said.

He’s a healthy boy who’s looking forward to getting back to sports, his mother said. His doctor told him he could start looking forward to playing basketball.

While appreciative of her co-workers’ efforts, Rhonda said it was hard for her to be on the accepting side instead of the giving side.

“I love to be on that side,” she said.

The event, organized by school staff, is open to help from anyone who would like to make a donation or offer to help, Osgood said. Contact Cushing School for more information.

The dinner on Saturday will feature spaghetti, roll, salad and dessert.

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