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RFH 2010, HCS News

Riggies for Robby: Benefit Aids HCS Student

Tue, Jun 14, 2011

Hamilton turned out in force tonight to enjoy a chicken riggies dinner to show support for and aid an HCS student in his battle with a debilitating disease.

Riggies for Robby: Benefit Aids HCS Student

Robby Britton was on the move.

Diners who filled the HCS cafeteria tonight could look up most anytime during the evening and see the tall, smiling, broad-shouldered student hustling from one end of the room to the other. He was busing tables and returning plates to the kitchen.

No one could have known for a minute that he was the reason for the benefit chicken riggies dinner, nor could anyone have known he is suffering from a painful disease that usually zaps his strength. And, that's the way the 13-year-old wanted it.

"I keep telling him to take it easy," said his mother Melanie Britton. "He keeps saying he wants to work just like everyone else."

Melanie Britton and her husband Robert are likewise hard workers, especially when it comes to their son's health. In January it was confirmed that Robby has a rare form of muscular dystrophy that attacks the mitochondria, which produce energy within almost all cells. The disease causes severe pain, weakness and interferes with the function of muscles.

Mitochondrial muscular dystrophy is an inherited disease Robby's father also has it.

Both Robert and Melanie Britton were overwhelmed by the evening; by the folks who organized the event and the response.

Eric Coriale, an enrichment teacher at HCS, and his wife Jennifer volunteered to donate and cook chicken riggies for tonight's event. Eric joked that he married into the chicken riggies recipe, which his wife said created by her family and modified to become hers.

They and others cooked 26 gallons of sauce and some 60 pounds of chicken for the benefit dinner. A staple on Utica tables, the riggies were served with salad, bread, dessert and beverages by an enthusiastic crew of volunteers.

Eric taught Robby in the fourth grade and has worked with him every year since. "He's the best," said Coriale. "They don't come any better than Robby. He's a hero to us all."

The evening also included a magic/comedy show by Morrisville's Matt Episcopo and a silent auction of donated goods and services.

The more than $3,800 raised by tonight's event will go towards Robby's care, which is considerable and costly.

Melanie said that while they have the best insurance possible, it still has limitations; it doesn't cover all physical therapy treatments nor experimental drugs. The Brittons pay $160 a week for physical therapy visits and $260 a week for medications. They see doctors in Buffalo, in Akron and Washington, D.C. and a palliative care physician visits the house. And, then there is the travel and the time involved.

Somehow, Melanie said the family just "makes it work."

And, Robby makes it work as well. Teachers at tonight's event praised his outlook. So did his friends who were there to eat and to work. His mother summed up Robby's outlook by telling a story:

It seems a representative of the Make A Wish Foundation approached the family about how it might help.Melanie said Robby replied: "I'm OK. Give this to a child who is sicker."

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