Baby Crew Engel has seen more than his share of medical troubles.
At
9 days old, Crew was diagnosed with Peter's anomaly in his left eye, a
rare condition that causes a cloudiness of the eye that affects vision.
Three months later, in December 2007, Crew was diagnosed with severe congenital glaucoma in his already troubled left eye.
In
his eight months of life, Crew has undergone seven surgeries to help
alleviate his conditions, including one in Miami to remove the lens
from his left eye.
"I usually just take it day by day and hope for the best," said Crew's mother, Heather Engel.
There
is little chance that Crew will ever gain normal vision in his left
eye, but with the help of contact lenses or glasses, he may have some
sight out of it.
"This isn't something that they're going to be able to completely fix," his mother said.
The glaucoma causes pressure buildup in Crew's eye, making weekly trips from his home in Fargo to Minneapolis necessary.
Crew's most recent surgery was to hook up a shunt in his eye to allow fluid to escape and relieve some of the pressure.
With
the weekly trips to Minneapolis and costly surgeries, medical bills are
starting to accumulate, although Crew's family is not sure how much is
owed, yet.
On June 12, the Engels and and Heather Engel's
family, the Vanouses, will be holding Crew's Carnival at the Mandan
Community Center. Proceeds will go to help the Engel family with the
medical and travel expenses for Crew's treatment.
While Crew's
parents, Heather and Colin Engel, live in Fargo with Crew and his
sister, Luca, they both grew up in the Bismarck-Mandan area.
The
carnival will have Fun on the Run inflatables, face painting, air brush
tattoos, hot dogs, cookies, bars, beverages and Hawaiian shaved ice.
A carnival benefit allows kids and adults to enjoy it.
Heather Engel said they wanted to do something that kids could enjoy and this way Luca, 2, also can be involved.
On
top of activities for the kids, like the mini-jungle bouncer and the
princess bounce and slide, there also will be fun for adults, like the
bungee run, which works like a tug-of-war, but with a bungee cord.
Admission is by freewill donation. The event will be open from 3 to 8 p.m.
"We just want to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers," Heather Engel said.