TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Merrill Area Community Rides Charity (MACR) will host their 6th Annual Mud ‘N Jams ATV and Motorcycle Ride and Poker Run on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at Z’s Fork Horners Bar and Grill, N4291 County Hwy. X, in Gleason. Proceeds from this year’s event will be donated to the family of Brandtly Clark.
Brandtly’s story
Brandtly Clark is the four-and-a-half-year-old son of Matthew and Hailey Clark of Merrill. The Clarks also have a two-year-old daughter, Rhea.
One evening last Nov. [2021], Brandtly’s mother, Hailey, noticed a lump in Brandtly’s stomach, so she took him to the ER the next day. After many tests, Brandtly was diagnosed with a Wilm’s Tumor – pediatric kidney cancer – in his left kidney. It was Nov. 9, just six days after Brandtly’s fourth birthday.
“As a parent, you pray that you never have to hear those words,” Hailey said. “But when you do, your world crashes into a million pieces.”
“As you quickly have to pick up the pieces and put them back together, a million other questions arise,” she said.
Mother and son were ambulanced to Children’s Hospital in Marshfield, where more tests were done to determine if the cancer had spread beyond the kidneys. After another very long day of testing, the Clarks got the “Best news ever!” in Hailey’s words. Doctors were pretty certain the cancer had not spread.
Surgery to remove Brandtly’s left kidney was scheduled for Nov. 17 at Milwaukee Children’s Hospital, but doctors wanted him close even beforehand in case problems should arise, so Brandtly, Hailey, and Hailey’s Mom went to Milwaukee on Nov. 13. That was a good thing, because the days before the surgery were rough, with Brandtly in lots of pain and throwing up, and he needed to be hospitalized so he could get the medications he needed to control the pain even before the surgery. Matt and his Mom arrived in Milwaukee for the surgery, and on Nov. 17, Brandtly’s left kidney was removed, along with the tumor. “It was approx 8” x 5” round,” Hailey shared afterward on her Facebook page. “It was massive.”
From the initial news on, the Clark family put their faith in God. They didn’t have answers, but they held on to God’s promises and their faith as their lifeline. The outpouring of support and prayers from people who know and love the Clark family, and even from strangers, helped hold the family up. “Prayers are still needed,” Hailey posted in the hours following surgery. “The outpouring of kind words, love, and support has our hearts filled sooo much!”
Two days later, lab results were back confirming the Wilm’s Tumor and the bad news that the cancer had spread to the first lymph node tested. Radiation and chemo would be needed to fight the cancer in Brandtly’s small body. But on the positive side, Brandtly’s healing from the surgery was progressing well. After nine days in the hospital, four of those post-surgery, he got to go home.
Once all the lab results were back, doctors determined Brandtly’s cancer was stage four, considered so because four of the seven lymph nodes tested were positive, Hailey said. Yet, Brandtly was often happy and smiling!
And that Thanksgiving, Hailey posted about being thankful … for those smiles and for the outpouring of support from the community. “I know we got a bumpy road ahead but the road doesn’t end. The Lord will always provide a path,” she wrote.
Brandtly had his first of seven monthly chemotherapy treatments the day after Thanksgiving. The following Monday he started the first of six radiation treatments.
On April 8, Brandtly also had a second surgery to remove a small nodule from his lung at Milwaukee Children’s Hospital, and on April 13, the family got the news: “The biopsy results came back as a benign lymph node! No cancer in the lungs!”
As of June 1, Brandtly’s treatment plan is complete. He will have scans taken on June 22, and if all looks good, then he should be able to get his port removed on July 6, and doctors will set up his check-up plan.
Through everything he endured, “Brandtly handled things well,” Hailey said. “We were open and honest with him through every appointment and what had to be done. Some days were harder then others; he definitely was a superhero through it all. Tough is an under statement.”
“Brandtly is beyond excited to get back to normal life and start school in fall,” his mom said. “He is asking to go to the beach once his treatments are complete. We don’t have a set place [in mind], but he loves being outdoors and looking for seashells and collecting rocks.”
Even through the last seven+ months of diagnosis and cancer treatments, he’s been as active and adventurous as his little body would let him be. Some of his favorite things to do are fishing, looking for worms, digging holes, and lifting rocks to find bugs, his parents said.
“People have said to me, ‘I don’t know how you guys do it,’” Hailey said. “Well … we weren’t given a choice. Matt and I did what we have to do.”
Benefit event details
Mud ‘N Jams ‘22 will kick off on Saturday morning, June 18, with guided ATV and Motorcycle rides departing Z’s Fork Horners at 11:00 a.m. sharp, rain or shine. The ride and poker run will include stops through Lincoln, Langlade, and Oneida counties ($10 per card, with a 50/50 payback), before ending back at Z’s Fork Horners by 6:00 p.m. Saturday evening. All vehicles are welcome to participate, and an entry fee of $30 is asked of all participants.
There will be live music by Bryce Thomaschefky from 6:00-10:00 p.m., and the evening will include the poker run drawing (50/50 payback) and cash and prize raffles throughout the evening.
For more information about this year’s event, or MACR, visit the organization’s Facebook page using key words: Ride Merrill. Or email: [email protected].