‘Annie’s Auction’ raises over $14,000

for neighbor who suffered a seizure

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”

Attributed to psychologist and philosopher William James, the above quote appears on a Web blog dedicated to 5-year-old Annie Sullivan and written by her mother, Jean Sullivan.

On Jan. 21, 2007, Annie suffered a massive seizure caused by undiagnosed Addison’s Disease. The incident left her with brain damage, subject to more seizures, unable to walk and largely unable to speak.

On Jan. 23, an auction organized by Bothell High senior Jenn Lund, 18, helped raise over $14,000 toward the cost of Annie’s continuing recovery. Appropriately enough, the James quote ends one of the blog entries on what was dubbed “Annie’s Auction.”

“The footwork (Jenn) did was amazing,” Sullivan said. “The stuff they had to auction was really nice.”

A next-door neighbor of the Sullivan family, Lund put the auction together as her high-school senior project.

“I kind of went through a similar experience,” Lund said regarding the Sullivans and Annie. Her father, Tim Lund, suffered from ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

“Because she went through that, I think she understands what we’re going through now,” Sullivan said. Lund’s mother, Andrea Sawyer, agreed, adding her daughter was still young when her father died.

“I think she drew on that a lot,” Sawyer said.

Lund said the auction project started with her sending out between 200 and 250 procurement letters.

“I was nervous about communicating with people,” she said, stating that she tends to be kind of shy. Still, those procurement letters and her follow-up must have been pretty convincing. Answers came back in the form of gift certificates and other items from local businesses inside and outside of Bothell. Area churches gave donations, as well. All in all, Sawyer figures her daughter spent about four months and “a lot of hours” readying the auction.

“I’m just so proud of her that she put someone else ahead of herself,” Sawyer added.

The event itself took place at Bothell’s Northlake Christian Church where both Lund’s family and the Sullivans are members. With his own story to tell, Bill Sullivan, Annie’s father, was once Northlake’s executive pastor.

For the fund-raiser, Lund found someone else to act as auctioneer, but church leaders wanted Lund to speak to the auction crowd. Again, Lund mentioned being nervous.

“It all worked out,” she said.

“The people at our church are really generous,” Jean Sullivan said. “They remember Annie running up and down the hallway and I think they want to help in her recovery.”

Addison’s Disease is an endocrine or hormonal disorder that can cause weight loss, muscle weakness, low blood pressure and other symptoms. The sickness occurs when the adrenal glands do not produce enough of either of two hormones. Sullivan said Addison’s is treatable if caught in time. President John F. Kennedy suffered from Addison’s. But Sullivan and Web sites on Addison’s say it is difficult to diagnose and easy for doctors to miss. And that is exactly what happened to Annie.

Sullivan said she put her daughter to bed one night and found her the next morning, blue from choking and clearly in distress.

“It was horrible,” Sullivan said. Annie was taken to the hospital by ambulance, but not before the seizure she’d suffered had done its damage.

Sullivan said Annie has regained a few words, including “Dad,” which mom added clearly thrilled Bill Sullivan.

Not incidentally, posted on Annie’s Web site, Bill Sullivan’s story includes a fight with parkinsonism, a largely fatal illness closely related to Parkinson’s Disease. The blog directly gives the credit for Bill Sullivan’s recovery to prayer and asks the same for Annie.

Jean Sullivan said Annie presently is recovering from a high-tech surgery that placed a small wire into her neck, a wire that delivers a small electronic charge meant to ease seizures. Sullivan said it was too early to tell what effect the therapy might have. But she’s obviously not about to give up hope.

“Her body has strength,” Sullivan said of her daughter. “It’s just a matter of bringing it out.”

Read Jean Sullivan’s blog at www.annaleesullivan.blogspot.com.