Foundation grants teen's wish of accessible turkey barn
(Published Wednesday, August 1, 2007 11:49:23 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Gina Duwe Gazette staff
EVANSVILLE-Eighteen-year-old Ethan Flood once told his mom he just wished he had a place of his own to go where nobody would follow him.
But Ethan has a rare, degenerative disease called Ataxia Telangiectasia that affects a variety of body systems, so that freedom is hard to find.
"Being in his condition, he doesn't get alone time," said his mother, Liz Drake-Flood. "There's always someone. There's someone in the bathroom, there's somebody feeding him, there's somebody always there."
Now he has a place.
Liz Drake-Flood and her son, Ethan Flood, show friends and family Ethan's turkey barn he received through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Ethan suffers from a rare, degenerative disease called Ataxia Telangiectasia.
Al Hoch/Gazette Staff
The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted Ethan his wish of having a turkey barn so he can have a hobby he does on his own. Friends, family and vendors who helped with the project celebrated the occasion with a wish day party Tuesday night at the family's rural Evansville home.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The Foundation worked with local vendors including Allen Custom Flatwork and Magee Construction to create Ethan's own space.
Volunteers renovated a current structure into a turkey barn making it handicap-accessible. A garage door-type entrance now allows Ethan to ease into the barn in his motorized wheelchair.
Ethan Flood
Liz Drake-Flood
Insulation and window treatments make the area feasible for raising turkeys, along with areas where Ethan can separate the turkeys by age or gender.
The family also is looking into a feeding and watering system that would allow Ethan to activate it by pushing buttons.
Then came time for the turkeys. Greg Wolff of Bellefontaine Farms in Belleville donated the seven bronze turkeys that now roam in the new pen.
Ethan's goal is to be able to hatch his own eggs someday, Liz said. He's raised and shown turkeys in 4-H for three years, but getting in and out of the buildings to care for them was a challenge.
So why turkeys?
"My mom wouldn't let me raise any other animals, and this was the only animal I could raise by myself," he said.
His comment sparked a playful back-and-forth between mother and son. But Liz said she's happy to see Ethan have a place of his own to start a hobby.
Ethan's wanted to be a farmer-whether it be pigs, cows or turkeys. His father, Clint, raised pigs and was a blacksmith. Clint died in a car accident in May 2006, leaving Liz with Ethan and his sister, MacKenzie, 13, on the farm.
For now, the turkey farm will keep Ethan busy. And until he turns 21, he will also continue with a hands-on program Evansville High School that focuses on life skills and job placement.
"It's really nice," Liz said of the Make-A-Wish project. "I'd encourage people to donate to Make-A-Wish or have businesses get involved."
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin grants wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions. More than 3,000 wishes have been granted since the chapter was founded in 1984.
Last year, the chapter granted a record-breaking number of wishes with 255. Currently, 200 Wisconsin children are in the process of having their one special wishes granted.
