After a young boy from Soddy-Daisy was diagnosed with a rare disorder that will require him to undergo skull reconstruction surgery, local community members decided they wanted to help.
A fundraiser has been organized for Saturday, Feb. 4 at Saddle Pals Riding Club from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to rally the community around 13-year-old Logan McDonald. He was diagnosed with Loeys-Dietz syndrome in December after several months of crippling headaches forced him out of school at Soddy-Daisy Middle School, said his stepfather, Adam Presley.
LDS was only formally named in 2005, and is an exceedingly rare disorder that afflicts the connective tissue in the body, leading to multiple possible ailments. In Logan’s case, it meant his skull wasn’t growing properly and was applying pressure to his brain. The pressure led to near-constant migraines that have kept him going back to specialists for months.
“He’ll be in intensive care for two or three days, and will be up there for at least a week,” Presley said of his stepson’s corrective surgery, scheduled for later this month. “When he comes back, he’ll have a long recovery and hopefully he won’t have to go through this again.”
Organized in part by family friend Steve Wilson, the fundraiser will have food, drinks, live music all day, carnival games and a live auction, with all proceeds going to benefit the family.