INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. - When life issues get too big it's better to put them in perspective, especially when grown up problems fall onto kid's shoulders.
Sean and Mitchell Burns have known Michael Ury for a little less than a year. Sean, 8, his brother Mitchell, 7, met Ury through a homeschooling program and became fast friends.
A few months after meeting, the boys' mother told them Ury was sick and needed a bone marrow transplant.
"We had no idea what he was going through," Sean said.
Ury has myelofibrosis, a disorder of the bone marrow that replaces the marrow with scar tissue.
It attacks the blood cells and causes the body to stop producing white blood cells which are needed to fight off infections.
"There is no exact treatment for it. There is not a cure really, but there is a potential cure with a bone marrow transplant," Ury said Friday.
The problem is too big for little shoulders.
"I didn't know it could happen, but I haven't known anyone else that had that," Sean said.
So when they were told Michael needed about $1 million for the transplant and aftercare, they started thinking.
"At first, Mitchell thought he should sell his bikes," Sean said of the first money making plan.
Bikes sold wouldn't do it, but bikes, that was an idea.
The brothers planned a charity bike ride that they would go on for 80 miles this Labor Day weekend.
So far, they have raised $2,200 and they have logged many miles around the neighborhood getting ready.
They may be little, but their hearts are grown up.
"To have two young men like this help you, I was incredibly touched and moved," Ury said.
To donate to Miles for Michael, go to www.benefitformichael.com.
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