Second Chances

It always goes back to that bike.

You know … the blue and silver Mongoose. The one 11-year-old Hunter Etheridge used to ride every day to get out of the house.

The one he used to pedal as fast as he could to feel the humid Georgia air rush past him like any little boy would.

The one that was literally stolen from his front porch — in broad daylight — the day he found out it was going to be tough to be a kid anymore.

“That’s what made him feel free,” Hunter’s mother, Kim Etheridge, said. “So when we went up (to Atlanta) and the doctors said he couldn’t go out and play, on the way home, I thought that was God’s way of getting him ready.

“If it was here, it would be really hard to explain to him that he (couldn’t ride it again).”

Hunter has Mitochondrial Disease.

His mitochondria — “powerhouses of the cell” — do not function properly. They don’t convert food into energy the right way and they leave his organs prone to failure.

Simply put, they make him tired every time he uses energy.

“I feel like I’m gonna go to sleep if I get too (active),” Hunter said. “I get really tired.”

But you wouldn’t know that by looking at Hunter, who loves the Georgia Bulldogs, playing basketball and four-square.

“The thing that’s so difficult to explain to people about his disease is that if you don’t know anything’s wrong with Hunter, you may not think anything’s wrong with him,” Kim said. “They call it the ‘Invisible Disease,’ and it just (affects) the things on the inside.”

Hunter was born with the disease and suffered a heat stroke last year, but it was only last month when doctors told his parents he shouldn’t play outside anymore.

That meant no more biking and no more sports.

“I feel sorry for him, because I got to do all the things a kid can do,” Hunter’s father, Steve Etheridge, said. “I just hate for him that he can’t get outside and ride his bike, ride his scooter. (We’re) probably not going to be able to take him camping, either.”

Doctors suggested a cooling vest, but it didn’t work very well because of the hot, humid Georgia weather.

So why don’t they move?

Three things: doctors, family and the fact Hunter can’t be in cold conditions, either.

“If we had to move some place that would be more climate-friendly for him, the first thing I would have to make sure of is the doctors (to treat him would be available),” Kim said. “With his disease, there’s not many people at all that know about it.”

That’s when Bob Prince, the pastor of Shepherd’s Fold Church, stepped up with a plan.

“Once we left Atlanta from the doctor’s, I just started praying and …” Kim began, before Hunter interrupted.

“Somebody stole my bike!” Hunter said as Kim paused to smile at her son.

“It was just like, I was praying to God for an answer, ‘What are we going to do for a child who’s used to that, who, basically, his childhood is being taken away from him?” Kim continued. “It was just laid on my heart, so I talked to Bob about it, and he said ‘I agree, let’s see what we can do.’ “

Prince’s plan: Add an air-conditioned playroom to the Etheridge house so Hunter can play sports again.

“In the barber shop, people just started saying, ‘How can we help? How can we help to do something for him to

cope?’ ” Prince said. “So the idea for the room came about … to make it happen.”

Prince presented the idea to his congregation and local businesses, and got people to do the majority of the labor free of charge, such as shingles, painting, sheet rock and trim work.

“We’ve asked Home Depot about everything, all the materials,” Prince said. “They’re a very generous corporation — (they’re involved) with Extreme Makover: Home Edition television program. They don’t do it through their stores or corporate offices, though, it’s through a foundation that they have.”

And while there have been many donations of labor and materials, the family needs more to get Hunter’s room done.

“We really appreciate the ones that have come forward, to offer their services,” said Kim, a stylist at the Barber Shop on Palmyra Road in Albany. “(But we) need more (help).”

One institution which has already helped Hunter is Sherwood Christian Academy, where Hunter has gone to school on a scholarship for the last four years.

And while he has to take two, 30-minute breaks a day and can’t participate in recess, going to Sherwood inspired his mom to give him a very special Bible verse that he still leans on today: Isaiah 41:13.

“‘I, the Lord your God hold your right hand, to say to you, do not be afraid, I will help you,'” Hunter rattles off without a pause. “And I don’t have really no fear (anymore).”

Kim said that verse has been especially helpful the past couple months.

“Because of Sherwood being a new school to him and he didn’t really know anybody there, he got really, really nervous, very worried, and I was looking for something that would help with that,” Kim said. “So I Googled “fear” and that was one of the first things (that came up) and it just fit perfectly.”

Hunter said he prays every night for God to make him better, but adds he knows his new playroom will make things a bit easier in the meantime.

“(I’m excited) ’cause I get to do all the fun stuff I miss doing,” Hunter said.

Now, if there was only enough room to ride a bike.