Over the April 23 weekend, Timber Creek students were involved in an extraordinary event that raised over $14,000 for an 11-year-old future Falcon who suffered from brain aneurysm.
Sarah Schiefelbein, a sixth grader at Timberview Middle School, was diagnosed with a severe brain aneurysm in October 2015. According to the Keller Citizen, Schiefelbein’s mother found her seizing uncontrollably shortly after going to sleep on Oct. 2, 2015. After being taken by an ambulance to Cook Children’s in Fort Worth, it was determined that the aneurysm she was suffering from is rarely found in children. On Oct. 3, she was taken to the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas to go through further treatment.
It took Schiefelbein about six weeks to partially recover – immediately after her aneurysm, she lost the ability to walk, talk, and eat. Cook Children’s said that after her two and a half month long course of intensive therapy, she would walk out on her own, and she did. Doctors expect her to reach a full recovery.
Fellow sixth grader and friend of Sarah’s, Ethan Hyatt, was especially touched by the story.
Watch a video shown on NBC 5 News about the event:
Being a part of the band Zero Gravity and having connections through his older brother with the Timber Creek Jazz Band, Hyatt was inspired to create an event that would raise money for Schiefelbein’s family and for Sarah’s road to recovery. Hyatt and his mother, Wendy, scouted many businesses and organizations to collect items and donations towards the cause.
“My son reached out to the TCHS Jazz ensemble to play at the benefit (his older brother is in the band) and they agreed,” Wendy Hyatt told the Talon. “These amazing students gave of their time and talents to help make this event awesome.”
Ethan’s older brother, Reese Hyatt, and Logan Bryant are Freshman at TCHS and also in the band Zero Gravity.
On April 23, the Music Benefit for Sweet Sarah was held — and TCHS students were there to pitch in. This evening of entertainment, food, silent auctioning, and raffling raised a total of $14,500 in just a mere two hours.
Some of those funds came from the Timber Creek Student Council, which donated $307 to the event, according to Wendy Hyatt.
“Dillon [Fontaine] was amazing reaching out to us and coming to the event to drop of the funds,” Hyatt said. “Multiple TCHS students volunteered to help at the event and really made it a success.”
“We have some great TCHS students and for that Ethan and I are very thankful,” Hyatt said.