News

Restaurant workers step up to help stricken 1-year-old

By Angeljean Chiaramida
Staff writer
Published: July 8, 2009

SALISBURY — When the waitstaff at Stripers Grille heard that an Amesbury 1-year-old was fighting for his life, they decided they had to do something.

So, on Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. — usually the busiest and most lucrative night for servers at any restaurant — the entire waitstaff will donate 10 percent of their tips to the family of Nolan Michael Smith, the toddler fighting a battle with a rare syndrome that's attacked his brain and heart. Stripers' owners will match the total staff contribution.

"You can't just let something like that happen without helping," said Dorothy Mugavero, an employee of the restaurant. "You almost feel guilty if you can live your life without problems given what's going on these days."

Mugavero said when the Stripers' waitstaff heard about Nolan, they took on this project together.

"Everyone's involved with this, the servers, the busers, the bar, everyone," Mugavero said. "We're also putting up a few collection jars so people can contribute if they'd like."

According to a letter from Nolan's mother, Nicole, she and her husband, Michael, had noticed their only child wasn't developing as he should have.

"He wasn't meeting any of his milestones," said Jodie Goucher, Nolan's godmother, Smith's best friend and the mother of three. "He wasn't talking, wasn't walking, wasn't eating on his own, wasn't pulling himself up. He was 1 year old, and he couldn't even sit up on his own."

After seeking medical consultations with experts in Boston, the family discovered Nolan had a tumor in the region of his brain that affected his motor functions.

On May 18, shortly after his first birthday on May 9, Nolan underwent emergency brain surgery to remove the tumor. It took nine hours, and afterward lab tests determined the tumor was malignant, and doctors hadn't been able to remove all of it, Goucher said.

Two weeks later, doctors found the tot had another tumor on his heart, although this one wasn't malignant.

Putting together all his symptoms — the brain tumor, hydrocephalus or water on the brain, and the other tumor on his heart — doctors realized Nolan was a victim of a rare disease, a gene mutation called nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome or Gorlin syndrome, Goucher said.

"He probably had the tumor while he was (in the womb), and no one knew it," Goucher said.

On June 15, Nolan began a course of chemotherapy that will be long and difficult, his mother wrote in her letter, but she believes her son "is up to the challenge."

Because Nolan needs a parent constantly at his side, Smith gave up her job, while her husband remains on the job, providing health insurance. But when a family undergoes such a medical crisis, the financial burden is huge, and that's where the crew at Stripers hopes to help, Mugavero said.

Others can, too, she said. A fund has been set up for young Nolan at The Provident Bank.

Those wishing to help but not able to make it over to Stripers soon can make out a check to the Nolan M. Smith Fund and mail it to The Provident Bank at PO Box 37, Amesbury, MA 01913.

"If you can lead a normal life, you need to help people," Mugavero said.

Those seeking more information about Nolan can contact Goucher at jgoucher@comcast.net.