Benefit party will help pay medical bills
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The Cleveland Cavaliers, OSU's coach and boxer Kelly Pavlik have pitched in.

By ANGIE SCHMITT

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

STRUTHERS — New Springfield resident Trent Wasacz, 34, knows firsthand the healing power of a party.

A childhood leukemia and diabetes patient, he remembers how a benefit party helped his family pay his medical bills. It was a strategy the family employed years later when his brother needed a heart transplant, he said.

So when Wasacz heard his lifelong friend Brian Poole was struggling to find the money to pay for an operation his wife badly needed, he organized a night of music and socializing to raise money.

Wasacz is hosting The R.O.S.E. (Rock Out, Show Encouragement) Benefit on Saturday at The Cellar in Struthers in honor of 33-year-old Belinda Poole.

The mother of two has struggled to perform many of the tasks she used to enjoy since she was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disorder called Primary Lateral Sclerosis, a disease similar to Lou Gehrig's disease.

She used to love to sing, Brian Poole said. Now she struggles to talk. Picking up one of her young sons has become a strain.

But doctors at the Cleveland Clinic think implanting a Intrathecal Baclofen Pump System in Belinda's spine might ease her pain and control her muscle spasms.


"It's going to help her get back to walking and talking," Wasacz said.

Burden of bills

Like many people struggling with Lou Gehrig's disease, however, the Pooles' medical bills outstrip their insurance coverage.

"We have insurance, but there's percentages," Brian Poole said. "She goes to physical therapy. She's on 11 different medications. There's the electric wheelchair."

Poole knew he couldn't let money stand in the way of the comfort of his wife and former high school sweetheart. But there didn't seem to be a simple solution.

Now a communitywide effort is under way on their behalf, Wasacz said. So far, Wasacz said he has been overwhelmed with the support he's received. Four musical acts have volunteered to perform, including an acoustic guitar musician from Pittsburgh. About 20 local businesses have donated products and services for the Chinese auction to benefit the surgery.

Help from sports community

The sports community has been a generous contributor as well, he said. Local boxer Kelly Pavlik has committed to attending. Ohio State University Football Coach Jim Tressel donated an autographed football. Sasha Pavlovic and Larry Hughes of the Cleveland Cavaliers have donated autographed merchandise, as has Kellen Winslow of the Cleveland Browns, Jake Westbrook of the Cleveland Indians and Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"It's amazing how much everybody has helped out with this," Wasacz said. "It's crazy the amount of stuff I've received."

Advance tickets have generated $2,000, at $7 a piece, he said.

Wasacz said it's heartwarming to see people give so generously to a worthy cause.

"To have someone not even blink an eye to give something to help, that's what it's all about in life."

Tickets can be purchase at therosebenefit.homestead.com/Tickets.html or at the door from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.