Sox trip thrills 14-year-old Mousseau Family seeking funds for van

loading...

BREWER – Tom Mousseau is a regular 14-year-old boy. He goes to middle school and is a huge Boston Red Sox fan who recently took a special trip to Fenway Park in Boston.

Tom Mousseau also needs your help.

Mousseau was born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative disease that affects all the muscles in his body. There is no treatment and no cure. As of two years ago, he can no longer walk and needs a electric wheelchair to get around.

An expanded bathroom and a closest in his room were needed for wheelchair access as well as equipment above his bed and a shower chair. Nearly $20,000 was needed that wasn’t covered by insurance.

Expanding the kitchen door and fixing the roof are also priorities for the Mousseaus, who have been forced to take a second mortgage.

“We’ve stretched the budget to the limit,” said Mike Mousseau, Tom’s father.

As Tom Mousseau grows as he gets older, it gets harder to move him from place to place and the family is in need of a van. This is where the family is seeking help.

“What we’re hoping for is to purchase a new, full-size van,” said Mike Mousseau, who works as an aircraft mechanic in the Maine Air National Guard. “One would cost between $50-55,000 and we’re right around the $11,000 mark right now.”

After seeing a blog on the Internet about the family needing a van, WABI-TV 5 reporter Amy Erickson did a story on the Mousseaus. The word spread quickly afterwards.

“After the first Channel 5 report, a guy that delivers pizzas for Pizza Hut stopped by and said, ‘I’m sorry, my shift just started and I don’t have much, but here’s my tip money.’ It was six dollars right out of his pocket,” said Mike Mousseau. “This area is very generous.

“We’ve had a lot of those type of donations, 10, 20, 50 dollars and we appreciate it all. The biggest corporate donation came from Acadia Mortgage. They contributed $5,400 and that doubled our money. That was amazing.”

The Elks Club of Bangor contributed $500 and the Bangor and Brewer Firefighters donated $800.

After Erickson did the interview with the Mousseaus and learned that they were Red Sox fans, she made some calls.

“She called back and said she was working with some people trying to get us to Fenway Park,” said Mike Mousseau. “A lot of people pulled together and the entire trip was taken care of.”

Mike and Tom took a rented van, courtesy of the Bangor Fire Department, and headed to Boston last weekend for two Red Sox games against the Baltimore Orioles.

“It was really awesome,” said an excited Tom, who pointed to his Curt Schilling bobblehead and a baseball signed by Trot Nixon. “I had a great time.”

“They really rolled out the red carpet,” added the elder Mousseau. “We had a private tour with Red Sox public affairs representative Jim Rourke, who was tremendous.”

Mike McHugh of the Boston Globe and his wife Susan – Amy Erickson’s parents – arranged a lot of the trip.

Upon arriving at the ballpark, the McHughs gave Tom an autographed, framed picture of Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon recording his first major league save. The Mousseaus also got onto the field during Orioles batting practice.

“While we were standing there taking it all in, Trot Nixon was just finishing up his rehab workout and Susan went over and asked him to come over [to us] and he talked to Tom for a little bit, posed for pictures, and signed a ball and a program,” said Mike Mousseau.

Hall of Famer and Orioles television analyst Jim Palmer talked to Tom as Boston Globe writers Gordon Edes and Dan Shaughnessy presented gifts to Tom, including an autographed copy of the book “Fenway.”

The Mousseaus stayed in a right field box during Saturday’s game and were closer to home plate on the right-field side on Sunday.

“The place erupted,” said Mike Mousseau, referring to Mike Lowell’s first-inning grand slam during Sunday’s game. “The place was so loud that you couldn’t hear a jet engine if you were sitting next to it. It was thunderous.”

When asked what were his favorite moments of the trip, Tom said, “Trot Nixon and the grand slam.”

The Mousseaus said they have a good start on a new van, but they are still a long ways away.

“We’ve worked with charitable organizations for almost two years trying to raise funds for a van and have had absolutely no luck,” said Mike Mousseau. “We decided that this would be our last chance.”

Those interested in helping the Mousseaus get a van can visit www.tommyneedsavan.com. Information on how to donate is on the web site.

Those businesses looking for a tax-deductible donation may make their donations to the Community Church of the Open Door in Hampden while making sure to put “Deacons Fund” in the memo.