Community Corner

Arianna's Wings Benefit at Gaelic Park to Help Sick Girl Take Flight

Alexis Firlit—23 months old—already has undergone 7 surgeries and affectionately is called the $5 million baby by her own mother after being born premature. Find out how a July fundraiser will help her and her family.

By Ron Kremer, Channohon-Minooka Patch Editor

When Angie West lost her daughter Arianna to respiratory complications 13 hours after her premature birth nearly three years ago, she holed up in the second-floor bedroom of her Minooka home.

She rarely put on more than a robe. She grieved for six months. And then, finally, one day her older daughter, Jessica Mazur, confronted her with an emotional plea.

“She said, ‘Mom, I need you and Kayla needs you, too',” West said.

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West started picking up the pieces and gradually began to move on with her life, living vicariously through the day-to-day hustle-and-bustle of her two surviving daughters, Jessica, 17, and Kayla West, 8, and drawing strength from her husband, Jim, a pipefitter with Local #597.

Then, she was presented a gift by her parents, Bill and Rose Ricci, and her four sisters on Mother’s Day 2012 that gave her one more reason to get up and get dressed every day. The gift was Arianna’s Wings, a nonprofit organization dedicated in the loving memory of Arianna Rose West.

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She came into the world on Nov. 12, 2010—born premature at 30 weeks—and exited in less than 24 hours. Her memory will be that of an Angel with wings thanks to the work of West’s family. The non-profit group they’ve set up adheres to the mission of helping children with medical needs and their families by raising funds to assist them.

The recipient of their first big effort is Alexis Firlit, a 23-month-old girl who lives in Mokena with her parents, Kenny and Erica Firlit. Alexis weighed 1 pound, 12 ounces and measured 13 inches long when she was born at 26 weeks. She spent the first 6½ months of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit, fighting for just that, her life.

She since has undergone seven surgeries and has been diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis, a condition in which the intestines become infected and can begin to die. She is on a feeding tube at night. She can’t talk. She can’t walk.

She can crawl. And everyday, she shows signs of gaining more strength and closing some ground on the infant cousins who surround her in all their normalcy.

The fundraiser—Arianna’s Wings Beneft Featuring Alexis Firlit—is from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, July 26, at Chicago Gaelic Park in Oak Forest. Tickets are $10 each in advance or $15 each at the door. Children 3 and younger are free.

Activities will run the gamut from a bean bag tournament to silent auctions. There will be an appetizer buffet, a cash bar and a DJ. Donations also will be accepted through a PayPal account set up on the group’s website.

“We just thank God they offered to do this,” said Sharon Firlit, Alexis’ grandmother. “Kenny and Erica need it. They’re wonderful people. They’re like Godsends. I don’t know how else to say it. I’m talking about these sisters here—they’re unbelievable—just to offer to have ‘Lexi’ sponsored in their benefit.”

Erica Firlit grew up with Angie West and her four sisters—Dawn Reynolds, Kelly Roberts, Julie Thompson and Michelle Ricci. Their parents were close friends, too. And, what is it they say: A friend in need is a friend indeed?

“Well, we did a walk through the March of Dimes,” said Kelly Roberts. “After that, we knew that Angie wanted to somehow help other families who have kids with medical needs. So, actually, I think it was my husband (Randy) who thought, ‘Why don’t you guys start a non-profit organization?’ We did. The process was pretty fast as far as us getting certified.”

Based on ticket sales, Roberts said a crowd of between 300 and 350 people likely will show up at Chicago Gaelic Park on July 26. Erica Firlit breaks into tears just hearing about the outpouring of support that is forthcoming for her own daughter.

“They called me one day and they said they were starting a non-profit for their daughter and they wanted to keep Arianna’s memory alive,” Erica Firlit said. “All five of the sisters were sitting at a table. At the same time, they said, ‘Alexis Firlit.’ ”

“We were trying to decide who we could help,” Dawn Reynolds said.

“Most of the organizations like March of Dimes and St. Jude’s—they do help with the research for the babies,” said Terri Meeks, Alexis Firlit’s other grandmother. “But they don’t help the families with the medical bills. That’s why this was such a blessing.”

Erica Firlit said Lexi is a $5 million baby right now—and her medical bills will continue to mount as she moves forward. She undergoes physical, occupational and speech therapies on a weekly basis.

Erica quit her job as a manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car to be with her daughter—and lost her insurance, too. Kenny works as a sales rep with CDW. His insurance only goes so far. At times, the two are living the definition of hurting, though neither one speaks often of their pain.

No one knows more about what their going through than Angie West and her family. Angie’s oldest daughter, Jessica, has a tattoo on her shoulder that serves as a constant reminder of the sister she never knew.

“I wanted to have something of Arianna with me at all times,” Jessica Mazur said. “I figured a tattoo was the way to go with it. There’s Angel wings with the halo and then her name. I picked wings and a halo because my mom calls Arranna the Angel baby.”

“We knew there was a chance we were going to lose her,” Angie West said. “But nothing could have prepared us for what we were in store for. When we got the gift—from Arianna’s Wings—it was just a way of knowing that her name was still going to be out there, her memory was still going to be out there.

“We don’t know what she could have become, what she could have been, who she may have helped when she was older. Never in a million years would I have imagined a gift like that.”

Arianna's Wings Benefit for Alexis Firlit

When: 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, July 26
Where: Chicago Gaelic Park
Cost: $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Children 3 and younger are free.


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