If you go...
The following benefit fundraisers will be held for Ashlyn Stricker.
- Bake Sale, Friday, May 25, 8:30 a.m. until sold out, at Woodford State Bank, 403 W. 8th St.
- Bake Sale, Saturday, June 2, 10 a.m. until sold out, at the Masonic Temple, 1613 1/2 10th St. Donations can be dropped off from 8 to 10 a.m.
- Benefit Dance Party, Saturday, June 16, 7 p.m. to midnight, at Monroe Den roller skating rink, 1506 31st Ave., with a DJ, raffle, auction, games and prizes. $5 cover.
MONROE - Friends and family are organizing several upcoming benefits for a 5-year-old Browntown girl seriously injured in a tractor accident almost three weeks ago.
Ashlyn Stricker, daughter of Bobbi and Chad Stricker, is currently recovering at the American Family Children's Hospital in Madison and could require hospitalization for as long as three months.
Ashlyn fractured her skull and suffered bleeding in and around her brain after falling off a tractor May 6 on Christian Hollow Road just south of the stateline near Winslow. She was flown by helicopter to Rockford Memorial Hospital in Rockford before getting transferred to Madison.
Her parents have stopped working while they spend time at Ashlyn's side.
"They're going to have some huge bills," said Sue Ambler, the girl's aunt. The Strickers have a large deductible on their insurance, and will have the added costs of paying for care at an out-of-area hospital, she said. "For them, it's very difficult."
Upcoming benefits include bake sales this Friday and again Saturday, June 2, plus a dance party at the Monroe Den in mid-June organized by family friend Karen Homerding.
Ashlyn's older sister Emma, 8, has been staying with her grandparents. The Strickers are trying not to let her younger sister's ordeal disrupt her life too much, so Emma has returned to her normal school schedule.
"I've never been in a situation like this. We've always been on the other end of the stick. We're not used to people coming to our need," said Chad Stricker. "Everything that everyone's done so far, we really, really appreciate it. We really, really do need it."
When pressed for anything that Ashlyn might want, like toys, he said the family is building a tree house in the backyard for the girls and looking for a slide to go off it.
The Strickers "are not the type of people to ask for help," Ambler said. "It's very overwhelming."
Ashlyn is on the mend. She spent most of the first week in an induced coma, which she started to awake from on Mother's Day. More recently Ashlyn was able to get up and walk more than 100 feet during her physical therapy, and spell her full name.
"It's going to be a slow recovery, but she's progressing well," Bobbi Stricker said. "She's proving herself every day. She's showing us new things every day."
Normally Ashlyn is very active and loves Barbies, basketball and going for walks, her aunt said, so it's been hard to see her immobilized by the injury.
"She'll hold your hand and look at you. She usually only talks to Mom and Dad," Ambler said. "Mom and Dad are her securities."
Ashlyn Stricker, daughter of Bobbi and Chad Stricker, is currently recovering at the American Family Children's Hospital in Madison and could require hospitalization for as long as three months.
Ashlyn fractured her skull and suffered bleeding in and around her brain after falling off a tractor May 6 on Christian Hollow Road just south of the stateline near Winslow. She was flown by helicopter to Rockford Memorial Hospital in Rockford before getting transferred to Madison.
Her parents have stopped working while they spend time at Ashlyn's side.
"They're going to have some huge bills," said Sue Ambler, the girl's aunt. The Strickers have a large deductible on their insurance, and will have the added costs of paying for care at an out-of-area hospital, she said. "For them, it's very difficult."
Upcoming benefits include bake sales this Friday and again Saturday, June 2, plus a dance party at the Monroe Den in mid-June organized by family friend Karen Homerding.
Ashlyn's older sister Emma, 8, has been staying with her grandparents. The Strickers are trying not to let her younger sister's ordeal disrupt her life too much, so Emma has returned to her normal school schedule.
"I've never been in a situation like this. We've always been on the other end of the stick. We're not used to people coming to our need," said Chad Stricker. "Everything that everyone's done so far, we really, really appreciate it. We really, really do need it."
When pressed for anything that Ashlyn might want, like toys, he said the family is building a tree house in the backyard for the girls and looking for a slide to go off it.
The Strickers "are not the type of people to ask for help," Ambler said. "It's very overwhelming."
Ashlyn is on the mend. She spent most of the first week in an induced coma, which she started to awake from on Mother's Day. More recently Ashlyn was able to get up and walk more than 100 feet during her physical therapy, and spell her full name.
"It's going to be a slow recovery, but she's progressing well," Bobbi Stricker said. "She's proving herself every day. She's showing us new things every day."
Normally Ashlyn is very active and loves Barbies, basketball and going for walks, her aunt said, so it's been hard to see her immobilized by the injury.
"She'll hold your hand and look at you. She usually only talks to Mom and Dad," Ambler said. "Mom and Dad are her securities."