Jake Schneller update with **Pics**

[Gatlin5]

This is a little 4 Y.O. (now 5) boy who stole our hearts this past summer. He is a successful heart transplant recipient. Many Riders came to the aid of Jake and the Schneller's and they wanted to say thanks and give you and update.

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I just wanted to give you an update on Jake and send a couple of pictures that I hope you can post for the folks at KTMtalk.com (as well as Riderdown if you wish). Alex Manga came through huge and sent us some awesome gifts - he is a great & generous guy!!

Jake is still taking some anti-rejection medications but continues to improve. He is in good spirits and wants to play t-ball this upcoming summer. We celebrated his big 0-5 birthday in Denver with friends including Zachracing and Brokenspoke. We are hoping that he will be home in early February, 2007. The immunosuppressant drugs that he will be on are having some side effects on him. He is being a fighter and hanging tough despite this.

Jake will have a heart procedure in January at Children's Denver. I know he will be pissed about this, even though he still goes bi-weekly blood draws, EKG's, echocardiograms, etc.. He is really sick of hospitals & needles and I really cannot blame him.
Big brothers Adam & Karl are hanging tough, albeit doing no racing due to funding priorities. Little Brother Alex is a hellion; born to ride and competitive as heck. BUT - He is old enough to know when Jake is hurting and occasionally shows him love.
Although other times it's balanced out by a smack and/or whack, as brothers do.

We again want to thank everyone at Riderdown.org, KTMtalk.com, etc. for their kindness, generosity, and thoughtfulness. Keep those prayers coming too!
Sincerely,

Chris, Gloria, and the Boys

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/500/Jack_Schneller_1c1.jpg

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/500/Jack_Schneller_2c.jpg

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/500/Jack_Schneller_3c.jpg

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/500/Jack_Schneller_4c.jpg

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/500/Jack_Schneller_5c.jpg

[50ccMoM]

What a little trooper ! Jake and his family have been through so much. I will continue to pray for them. Thanks for the update.


Angie

[KTMissouri]

Thanks for the update.

That is awesome. He will do great things some day.

Shawn

[Tatonka]

Happy New Year Jake!! I just recieved an email from Chris and Jake has been making great progress! They are all back home & the family is together again in New Mexico. I'm sure that is a huge relief to the entire family.

"Oh yes, one last little piece of good news -
Gloria, Jake, and the boys are on their way home!
Jake had a heart catheter procedure this last Monday
and all tests, including the tissue samples, came back
great."

They still will be traveling to Denver periodically for bi-monthly check ups but that sure beats having the family being separated and maintaining two households. Congratulations to the entire Schneller family! We will continue to keep you & Jake in our thoughts and prayers.

Thank you again to EVERYONE who so generously gave their support (of all kinds) to this family.

!=!

[TwinTurbos]

That is great news!! All those thoughts and prayers seem to have worked!!

[Riding the Metro]

March 3, 2007

Dear Friends:

We are very sorry it has taken us so very long to send you a “Thank You” note, but better late then never. We intended to send this note around Christmas time, but things have been crazy.

This year has been tough for us, but with the help and prayers from so many people our little Jakob is doing great. Jakob had another rejection just 3 weeks before his 3 month post transplant, and so we had to extend our stay in Colorado. We were given the okay to come home in mid-January, after a small heart procedure, and so we are a whole family once again.

You - the members of KTM Talk, eRobertParker, and Rider Down have made a big difference in our lives. May God bless you for your kindness and donations; which have helped with housing, food, medications, and co-payments in Parker, CO. We still have a little left now that we are home and this will greatly help with the hospital and doctor’s bills (as they are now just starting to arrive). Dad has saved up enough for Karl to get a used XR70 and has donated Karls’ KTM Mini Adventure (which actually started a lot of this) to the Rider Down foundation

We are enclosing the picture we took of Jakob in December. As you can see he looks great and is full of energy (mom can attest to that). Thanks again for all you’ve done for us!
Wishing you a prosperous 2007,

Chris, Gloria, Adam, Karl, Jakob, & Alex Schneller