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shriners help area kid Date published: 4/21/2004 By JODI BIZAR Ricky loved to laugh and play just like most babies, except for one thing. He couldn't walk. His mom, Yvonne Bell, took him to doctors at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The doctors tried to create a cast for Ricky, who had a club foot, but it didn't help. "I didn't know what to do," Yvonne Bell said. "I was separated from my husband, was working for minimum wage and had no health insurance. The Bells, who by then had moved to Stafford County, learned about the Shriners. That was 15 years and several surgeries ago. Now Ricky is in high school in Dumfries and he can walk, run and do almost everything other teens can do. The Shriners, which have 22 hospitals in the United States, Mexico and Canada, provide free medical care to children. Since 1922, the Shriners have helped 700,000 children. One of them was Ricky. "They were really nice, and explained everything to me," said Ricky, who is now 16. "Absolutely everything was free," Yvonne Bell said. "Even the passage down there, hotels and food." She said doctors corrected Ricky's club foot through several surgeries. He is still seen annually to make sure everything is OK. "He's not in any pain," she said. "He is able to run and play, but not as much as other normal kids. So he does have some limitations." Club feet are a deformity that inhibit regular standing and walking. Yvonne Bell, who is now a gaming manager, feels indebted to the Shriners. But the Shriners don't need her help. So she keeps her good eye out for those who do. Like the baby she spotted in Wal-Mart in Stafford who had casts on both his legs. "I figured it had to be something like club feet," she said, "so I told the mother about the Shriners, told her how they paid for all of it, and then I gave her the phone number." The Shriners hold annual screening clinics throughout the county. In Fredericksburg, this year's was held April 3. "It was fantastic," said Joe Weatherbee, a local Shrine club member. "It was a record group." Last year 12 children were screened and referred to Shriner Hospitals. This year the number of referrals from the Fredericksburg area was 22. Weatherbee attributed the higher turnout to more publicity. Shriners treat a variety of ailments from scoliosis, neuromuscular disorders, juvenile arthritis, cerebral palsy to spina bifida. The organization has spent about $5.5 billion treating children since it began. It gets its money from fund-raisers, donations and investments. To contact the Shriners, call 424-1813. To reach JODI BIZAR: 374-5000, ext. 5627 jbizar@freelancestar.com
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