Delmarva, we have a huge opportunity to help make a difference in the lives of two local little boys, Hunter West and Julian Helton. Hunter, 21 months old and now adopted into a loving family, was only 6 weeks old when he suffered tragic injuries from shaken baby syndrome. Julian, 3, was born with a congenital heart defect and will soon have his 4^th open heart surgery. I’ll tell you more about each one but these are two events to help their families.

The 2^nd Annual Shop Local Delmarva Barn BQ, a great way to kick off summer festivities, is Saturday, June 15, 12-5:30 p.m. at Kylan Barn. There will be live music, 50+ vendors, a cornhole competition, chili and barbecue cookoffs, cash bar, food vendors, a petting zoo, and all kinds of kids’ activities including a rock wall and moon bounce. Last year, it was a ticketed event, but this year, it’s all free with a donation to the Tangier Classic at the door with all money going to the fishing festival’s beneficiaries.

The non-profit Tangier Classic, a light tackle and fishing tournament in Crisfield, chooses beneficiaries to support each year.

For the 6^th annual festival this year, Sept. 27-29, the committee chose two children instead of one to benefit. Festival president Brad Taylor explained that families complete applications to be selected and every year, the committee has the difficult decision to choose only one. This year, funds raised will go to two families. In the first five years of the tournament, they have raised more that $200,000 and all of it stays local. They also raise money by chicken cook events and will again fire up the grill at the Barn BQ.

In the tournament, anglers can fish two out of three days in three divisions – youth, kayak and powerboat. Taylor explained it’s a “catch-photo-release” tournament, so fish don’t have to be kept. It’s up to each fisherman. If anglers don’t want to keep their fish, they can snap a photo and submit it on an app as proof of the catch. The event usually attracts 300-350 anglers trying to catch 13 species of fish in the Tangier Sound and the Chesapeake Bay. All the information on the tournament and fishing regulations are on their website.

Now let me tell you more about the beneficiaries.

Julian Helton, 3 years old and little brother to Nash, was born with a congenital heart defect, Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, explained his mom, McKenzie Helton of Salisbury. She was 16 weeks pregnant when it was discovered that the left side of his heart wasn’t developing. “We were given a couple of options at that point, but chose to stand on God’s promises and give Julian a shot at life,” she and her husband Ken wrote in their application letter. They researched and decided to deliver Julian at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and that’s where he has had three open heart surgeries already.

McKenzie recalled the doctors’ initial prognosis. “They told me he’d probably come out blue, not like a normal baby, but he came out red and screaming and it was all Jesus,” she said.  “All the doctors said he wouldn’t be as he is now. They said he’d have disabilities, not walk, have a poor quality of life,” she continued.  
 

One look at his pictures shows otherwise. He is thriving and growing. The heart surgeries help repair his heart and keep him growing and the fourth will be later this summer. The medical bills and extended stays at hotels and air bnb’s for the family have added up, and Julian being selected as a Tangier Classic beneficiary will help to offset those. “It’s a lot of juggling at one time,” McKenzie said. 

Hunter West’s story is completely different. Hunter was only 6 weeks old when he was abused by his biological family. A victim of shaken baby syndrome, he suffered a fractured skull, hemorrhages, rib fractures, excess fluid and pressure on his brain; the list goes on. To have all this happen to one person, and especially a baby, is inconceivable. It was expected he’d pass away on the emergency flight to Johns Hopkins, but he made it and he spent the next 2.5 months in the hospital.

Lauren and Kenny West of Selbyville first met Hunter through a friend when they heard that the Division of Family Services was having trouble placing him because of his complex medical needs. Only a couple of weeks after they met Hunter, he was discharged from the hospital to their care, and the adoption was finalized Aug. 8, 2023.

In the family’s application letter to the Tangier Classic committee, Lauren wrote, “Hunter is a living testimony of what prayer, faith, hope and love can do to a child who was subjected to such heinous acts that almost cost him his life at only six weeks old.” His list of diagnoses is a mile long, including physical and mental delays, quadriplegic cerebral palsy, feeding difficulties, speech delays, visual impairments and PTSD. In his short life, he already has a team of more than 25 medical providers and requires occupational, physical, speech and language, feeding, and vision therapy. He cannot do anything on his own, he has a feeding tube, and everything he uses has to be adapted or specially made for him. 

But these are the sentences that stand out among all in their application letter. “Hunter is happiness. Our lives have been made better because he is in it,” wrote mom Lauren. Early on, a neurosurgeon told the couple that Hunter would be a “vegetable with a poor quality of life – but at least he has you two that care about him.” Lauren said Hunter is the opposite – he is beating the odds and a joy to all. The Wests have started Hunter’s Hope on Facebook for people to follow his progress and to “bite back on Shaken Baby Syndrome.”

You’ll see pictures of a smiling little boy, obviously loved, enjoying his new pool chair, getting his new glasses, and experiencing life with a family who loves him unconditionally. Receiving financial help from the Tangier Classic will help with their many expenses due to his lifelong and complex medical care.  

"Being a beneficiary of the Tangier Classic will afford Hunter to be a part of therapeutic opportunities that are not covered by insurance," Lauren explained. He can receive stem cell therapy, DMI therapy, chiropractic adjustments and massages to loosen his muscles, for example. "We have thought long and hard about how we will use the funds and our goal is to stretch them as far as possible so that Hunter will get the most benefit,'' she said.

Be sure to check both the Shop Local Barn BQ page – note this packed list of vendors - and the Tangier Classic page for event details. This is local people helping local people. Thank you, Delmarva!