PAYSON — Nine-year-old Rhett doesn’t let his health problems get him down.

Months after receiving over 19,000 cards for his birthday, Rhett is facing serious complications, delaying an operation on his heart. His condition took a turn for the worse when he started having major breathing problems in January, according to his mother, Pamela Bird.

“It’s kind of like a big fat mess, because he needs his heart to be working right to help get his lungs healthy, but yet he can’t have the heart surgery because his lungs are so sick,” Bird said.

Rhett, who also has Down syndrome, and his family are set to benefit from nonprofit Children and the Earth’s “Ride the Brainwave” event on June 13. People can support the effort in person or online by participating in a 5K walk and run, motorcycle rally, kids fair and concert.

Watching Rhett’s health decline has been hard for his family, but Bird said Rhett is still happy and always makes those around him laugh.

“He’ll go through procedures and everything and he’ll just tell everybody ‘thank you’ when he’s done, even after having an IV put in or being put to sleep through general anesthesia,” she said.

Rhett hasn’t stopped getting cards, according to Bird. She said ‘get well’ cards arrive whenever people look at his Facebook page and see he has visited the hospital. Students from Salem Hills High School have continued to show their support, recently bringing a box with about 900 more cards inside.

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There are so many cards that the Bird family has stopped counting, but Rhett continues to treasure each one. Occasionally he wants to look through the cards, so his family will pull a tote out of storage and bring it home.

“He’ll sit there and pull them all out and go through them and ask us to help him read who it’s from and just stuff like that,” Bird said. “He still loves going through them. It’s crazy that cards have made him so stinking happy. It’s like the coolest thing in the world to him. People sent him gifts and stuff like that too, but the cards are what really has kept him going and kept him happy.”

The Birds became involved with Children and the Earth around Christmas when they received a call out of the blue saying they needed to come pick up some items from the organization. Bird said they had never heard of the organization before, but someone apparently submitted their family’s name.

“Whoever it was knew exactly my kids’ sizes, what they liked, everything, because they had these huge things of clothes and household supplies for us,” she said. “We were having a rough time because Rhett’s health was starting to go downhill and it was just one of those things where we had no idea — they had no idea — who put our name in. It was just some person who cared about us and wanted to help us out.”

The Brainwave event will be held in the Draper Spectrum parking lot, located at 12101 S. State, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. About 40 families will benefit from the money that is raised, according to Bird.

She said anyone can register to be a member of team Rally for Rhett and encouraged those who participate to wear “crazy socks,” because they are one of Rhett’s favorite things. People who want to help, but are unable to attend the event, can also make donations* online through Children and the Earth and mark it for Rhett Bird.

Updates about Rhett can be found on his Facebook page.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Pamela Bird

*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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