PBA Basketball Game to Benefit Brick Girl, 5

The annual Brick PBA Helping Hands basketball game between township police officers and members of the Brick Dragons football team will benefit a 5-year-old township girl who needs 24 hour medical care.

Each year, the basketball game benefits a local family in need. This year, it will benefit the family of Mikaela Magner, to help them care for their daughter.

Mikaela, 5, has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, which is a rare and severe form of childhood-onset epilepsy. 

On any given day, Mikaela can have from 50 to 100 seizures. She has gone for stem cell treatment, has a Vagal Nerve Stimulation Implant, and is on a Ketogenic diet. So far, doctors have been unable to reduce the number of seizures Mikaela has because LGS is resistant to most medications and currently has no cure. 

Mikaela’s mother, Sarah Pollard, is a single mother who is unable to work due to the 24 hour care needed by her daughter.

"As you can imagine, she has a substantial amount of medical debt that continues to get higher with each passing day," the PBA said in an announcement to Brick Patch.

The game will be held at the Brick Township High School East Gym on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. The cost is $3 per adult and $2 per student.

Donations can be sent to the PBA Local 230, P.O. Box 1067, Brick, NJ  08723, c/o Officer Richard Nelson, Jr.  Checks can be made payable to the “Helping Hands Fund.”

For further information on the game, contact Officers Richard Nelson, Jr. or Robert Scelfo at 732-262-1100 or Detective Greg Mullarkey at 732-262-1122.