Last year we were blessed to be introduced to Antonius Acre and his family. A now ninth grader at Yukon High School, Antonius comes from a long line of Yukon graduates. His older brother, Alex, is a graduate of Yukon High School and was a member of the Pride of Yukon marching band. He has an older sister, Angel, who is currently a Senior at YHS and is also in the marching band. Antonius, who is described by many as wise and witty, sarcastic and bit of a fireball–to us, he is above all things BRAVE. He has been asked to be more brave than any other 14 year old should ever be asked to.
Antonius has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare disease that causes severe atrophy of the muscles and multiple other health issues. Most recently, due to the muscles in his back not being able to support the vertical nature of his spine, Antonius underwent spinal fusion surgery–in hopes of relieving severe back pain and improve normal respiration and digestion. Due to the severity of his condition, Antonius has been confined to a motorized wheelchair. Although when he is around you will see him zipping and zagging in his chair, his time out in the community has been limited since his surgery.
With the help of the Yukon community as well as many dedicated high school students, we as an organization were able to donate a FULLY FUNCTIONING HANDICAP VAN to the Acre Family–along with cash donations bringing our grand total to just over $40,000. Talk about a fun first year!
The family got to drive away in their new van after the closing assembly!
