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Three-year-old Michael Hart III has a congenital condition called Noonan Syndrome, which requires heart surgery for the tot and correction for hearing impairment. After one round of successful heart surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital in June, the Hart family, of AuSable Forks, has several major hurdles ahead.
AU SABLE FORKS | Community is standing and also riding to get behind a tot with a serious medical condition.
Three-year-old Michael Hart III is the son of Au Sable Forks firefighter Michael II and Jessie Hart. Little Michael’s grandfather, Michael Hart Sr., is also a firefighter with the AuSable Forks company.
The little boy has a congenital condition called Noonan Syndrome, a disorder that presents with heart defects, hearing impairment, sometimes skeletal growth problems and often bleeding disorders, among other symptoms.
In Michael’s case, the family just went through one successful heart repair surgery in June with their little boy. The medical procedure was done at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Continued travel to appointments at UVM Medical Center and to Boston present financial difficulty.
To help, Art Buesser and the Mountain Riders motorcycle club is honoring Michael III and his family with their annual Fallen Angel ride this weekend.
The benefit ride began 12 years ago as a way to provide support for Buesser’s grandson.
“We expanded my grandsons ride and changed it to the Fallen Angels Ride to help any child in our area in need of medical care,” Buesser explained of their benefit.
“The Harts are facing a lot of travel to doctor visits, crossing on the ferry and going to Boston. It is a big expense on a family, whether they have good insurance or not. This is just our way to help the family out with costs and medical expenses.”
Buesser, of Port Kent, is known in the club as “Little Art” and he said they usually have between 60 and 80 motorcycles taking the trip for Fallen Angels.
“It depends on the year, weather and all kinds of stuff. We start at Mad River Pizza in AuSable Forks, registration is from 10 to 11 a.m. It ends at the Mountain Riders Motorcycle Club clubhouse in Wilmington across from Candy Man chocolates.”
The event is set for July 21 this year.
The Mountain Riders’ barbecue continues in Wilmington through the afternoon with a Poker Run, Silent Auction and 50-50 raffles.
The barbecue is $10 a plate with $5 for bike passengers. Even people not on a motorcycle can join in to help.
FIND OUT MORE
The Hart family provides updates on little Michael’s condition and next steps in his medical care with a blog on Facebook.
To see how he is doing:
https://www.facebook.com/Michaels-Medical-Journey-386239058539083/
To make a donation or find out more about this year’s Fallen Angels ride, contact Buesser at 518-834-5716.
