A Long Overdue Update

Hello family and friends,

This post is coming from Mother and me, Nancy. Cathy left Friday night for a well-deserved 4 day cruise with her daughter and her daughter’s bridesmaids. Nicole, Cathy’s only child, is getting married in June and we say well-deserved because Cathy has been working nearly 24/7 at her new job and planning a wedding and keeping everyone up to date on Mike’s recovery. We all talked long and hard before she left because we all knew we needed to bring everyone up to date on our efforts with Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Mike and his family’s future.

It seems we have started many a post of late with an apology for the time lapse between updates. This isn’t because we don’t care or because we don’t want everyone to know what is happening, but more because we just get lost sometimes….

Mike’s story, the petition to EMHE, and the fans of Barbaro did get the attention of a casting director, a truly “real” and caring individual who obviously had an interest in Mike and his situation as a human being, not just a possible story line for the show. (And this in itself is a miracle due to the 1,000’s of applications received weekly by the show!) He and I talked by email and telephone for quite some time and as I brought him up-to-date on Mike’s remarkable physical progress since the initiation of the petition – that even though no one ever expected him to be able to walk again, he was out of the wheelchair and mobile with the help of walkers and canes - it became apparent Mike’s story was much more complicated than just that of being wheelchair bound and his home’s lack of handicapped accessibility. Mike’s needs were totally different now; a one story home with a patch of land and a barn would allow him to be able to provide for his family and work with his beloved horses gainfully employed in a new career.

Even though this gentleman knew it was a long shot, he took Mike’s story to the large number of EMHE’s “decision maker powers that be.” And when I received his call the next day I knew as soon as I heard his voice the news was not what we had all hoped for. Being ever so gracious and kind, he explained the show was not set up to purchase land but rather, to take a home that needs rebuilt due to disrepair, safety or handicapped issues and the like. Mike didn’t need that anymore and they just couldn’t find a way to proceed with the sort of makeover Mike and his family needed. HOWEVER, HE SAID, “I’M NOT CLOSING THE BOOK COMPLETELY ON THIS!”

We were pretty much at a loss as to which way to turn when, as has always been the case since Mike’s accident, Mike’s fans and supporters, the Fans of Barbaro (particularly, Mercy and Mary) “held us up” and well, basically, won’t let us give up!

Mike is alive! And that is first and foremost the thing to be most grateful for! We thought our biggest challenge was Mike’s injury. Once we found out he would survive it, our fear subsided somewhat because we had our brother and son. But we soon realized that the ups and downs of his recovery and other situations brought on by the accident were taking a tremendous toll, more than we had imagined, and has affected each one of us in a different way. But, here it is, the facts of life….Mike’s life now…..

Because Mike became injured and now has physical/cognitive disabilities that may or may not change, he is unable to earn a living doing what he knows how to do. This is a disability in and of itself. While Mike is making huge progress, the fact remains that he will probably never go back to training race horses again. He still has the talent to work with horses, and he certainly has the desire and love for them, but due to the inherent risk and danger of dealing with training thoroughbreds and the fact that Mike will always have to be careful not to injure himself, the risks far outweigh the dream of going back to doing what he loves most in this world. Because he cannot ever earn a living, the same way he used to, he cannot provide for his family and they will most likely lose everything they own including their home, which soon they can no longer afford. Funds have been donated, his church is helping as much as they are able, but these monies are running out and once that is gone there is no renewable source of income. This situation has become a reality to all of us now and we sort of became frozen with fear that we might say the wrong thing or forget something and be responsible for Mike not getting the help he needs. Then it hit us – don’t worry about flowery words or the perfect telling of his story – Mike is a miracle, as is his story, and that is enough. Let Go And Let God continue to work His miracles, through his friends, through the Fans of Barbaro, just ask for help….
Mike can and wants to be able to board horses. He would be capable of taking care of thoroughbred yearlings, as well as lay-ups and the like. He believes he could make a living and gain back his financial independence by doing this. And, as he has said since the accident, he is also interested in a Christian day camp for kids that involves giving them interaction with horses and an opportunity for him to be a testament to the power of faith. We haven’t exactly worked out all the details on this, but ideally it would be something Mike could do from his home. The problem is he currently lives in a subdivision. Given his present condition, Mike will most likely be forced to sell his perfectly livable home so he can afford to obtain some sort of home with land and stables that will allow him to do this.

But where do we go from here? We would be doing our own version of Extreme Makeover Life Edition. This will be a huge undertaking! And to quote again from my last email from Extreme Makeover Home Edition: “Like I said last week, we encourage people to go on with their lives naturally. It would be better to communicate to your support base that even though you spoke with us and couldn't figure out an approach, the need is still there in Mike's life. His fans will want to support him with or without EMHE's involvement. If Mike needs a new house with property/barns, that’s what Mike needs, with or without EMHE. His supporters could work to get that to happen. Again, I'm not closing the book completely on this. But I would need to see natural progression first. I don't want you all to do anything with the intention of getting our attention. I want you to do everything because Mike needs it, and being the loving and dedicated sister you are, I know that’s exactly what you do.”

So now….We now are soliciting your ideas for fundraising and would like to hear input from anyone that would be willing to help out with this mission. We are not only interested in monetary donations and fundraising (although this is very important) we are also interested in volunteers to help build when the time comes and anyone that has contacts with home builders to donate material, services and time. We will also need donations of fencing and horse supplies, etc. Actually, we really have no idea of what we will need to make this happen. It seems we need to create another petition, but this time for ideas, thoughts, suggestions on how to proceed, how to start….anything! We could call it the LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR MIKE REA petition! Thank you Mercy, Thank you Mary, Thank you FOBs, Thank you friends, and Thank You Mikey....for “lifting us up” and for not letting us give up!

We Believe in Miracles
We Believe in the Miracle that is Barbaro
We Believe in the Fans of Barbaro
We Believe in Mike Rea