Samaritan in need

By Phillip Navarrette/reporter@trcle.com

June 30, 2008 11:15 am

— Many in Johnson County have been touched in some way by the work of Mike Brand. For years he’s served the county on committees and associations, served on the Cleburne school board and was an integral part of the PONY baseball and softball organization in Burleson.
But now the man that has given so much is in need of help.
A Burleson charity baseball and softball tournament will be held July 12-13 in honor of Brand, who recently suffered two strokes in less than three weeks time. The ordeal left him disabled and in a nursing home while he recovers.
“It will be a good while before he gets back home,” said Brand’s wife, Charlene.
Mike’s condition has not been easy on the family. Mike, 61, is retired and without insurance, leaving Charlene in an ever-growing financial hole. Problems began when he was released two weeks ago from his short-term rehabilitation clinic.
“I was placed in a position where they were going to release him, and I had nowhere for him to go,” Charlene said.
A patient advocate stepped in and found a nursing and rehab center in North Richland Hills for Mike, but it was the only place in the area that would accept him, Charlene said.
But Mike is making the most of his situation.
“He’s gradually improving,” Charlene said.
Mike is concentrating on strengthening the muscles and nerves on the right side of his body, which were severely damaged by the strokes.
“The strokes did not affect his mind whatsoever,” Charlene said. “He’s just as alert as if nothing ever happened to him.”
Still, his speech was affected somewhat, Charlene said, forcing Mike to relearn how to speak and articulate certain sounds.
Mike misses spending time with his wife and his two grandchildren at home, but he’s determined to improve as fast as possible, Charlene said.
“Even through all of that, he does his therapy and tries to do everything that is asked of him. You couldn’t ask for a better patient,” she said. “He’s very appreciative of everything done for him.”
Tom Collett, PONY Softball director in Burleson, is helping organize the baseball and softball tournament
“Mike is strong of will and of mind and says he will beat this thing, and I agreed with him,” Collett said in a letter to the PONY organization. “But I told him we would all get through it together because that’s what families do.”
The charity event is being put on without Mike’s knowledge for his own good, Collett said.
“We can’t tell him because he would just smile the way he does and say, ‘You know there are a lot of people out there who deserve this more than I do’ and he would be wrong,” Collett said. “Now’s our chance to help someone who has always helped others, wishing for nothing in return. He was always there when we needed him, now he needs us.”
For information on the charity event, visit www.pony.org and click on “softball travel select” from the top menu, then click “south zone platinum softball information” on the side menu.