Local & State Headlines

Leesburg boy to meet Jr.

• Easton Blanchard, who is facing serious medical problems, gets his wish to meet NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Susan McCord

LEESBURG — An 8-year-old boy with a rare disease is less than 48 hours from the beginning of a wish come true.

Lee County third-grader Easton Blanchard departs Thursday for a whirlwind weekend at Talladega Motor Speedway, complete with the opportunity to meet his hero, Dale Earnhardt Jr., family members said.

Officials from Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions, unveiled details of the all-expense-paid weekend getaway for Blanchard and his parents, Brian and Heather Blanchard, at a party for family and friends Monday.

Diagnosed just after birth with a rare degenerative muscle disease, muscular dystrophy with myosin deficiency, Blanchard has endured numerous surgeries in his young life, including a 2002 operation to snip his Achilles tendons. In January, four emergency surgeries at Children’s Hospital of the Medical Center of Central Georgia removed all but six inches of his small intestine.

His voice a little crackly from a feeding tube, Blanchard said his wish to meet “Junior” came true from the “love and prayers” of many.

The entire office of Dougherty Clerk of Court Evonne Mull designates certain days for Blanchard, the grandson of Deputy Clerk Linda Blanchard, wears green “Easton’s Angels” t-shirts and raising funds for his medical expenses.

Blanchard made his request to meet Earnhardt in March after a six-week hospital stay that left him without a functioning small intestine, Heather Blanchard said.

“Easton has always been a Dale Jr. fan,” she said. “He liked his daddy (Dale Earnhardt Sr.) when he raced; his dad (Brian Blanchard) is a big Earnhardt fan as well. I’m not exactly sure who’s more excited.”

Granting the wish, Make-A-Wish arranged for a “garage tour” and personal meeting with Earnhardt, as well transportation, lodging, food and tickets to Friday’s ARCA and Saturday’s Bush Series races, she said.

“I want to meet the other drivers, too,” Easton Blanchard said. “Tony Stewart ... and if I have to, Jeff Gordon.”

When he meets Earnhardt, Blanchard said, he’s “not sure yet” what he will say to him. “The cat will probably get my tongue.”

Her son’s application to a Pittsburg children’s transplant hospital is complete and the family is waiting for an appointment for a week-long visit to evaluate him for a small intestine transplant, Heather Blanchard said.

To stay healthy, her son is completing most of his Lee County third-grade assignments at home and attends school with his classmates one day a week, she said, but he’s performing well and earned “Principal’s Scholar” recognition on his report card last week.

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