Help Zeke Ditch His Wheels

Help Zeke Ditch His Wheels Zeke's fight against Lyme and Pediatric Long Covid

Cash donation boxes are now up at Nomad’s and Northwest Coffee! Special thanks to these small businesses for supporting...
03/31/2026

Cash donation boxes are now up at Nomad’s and Northwest Coffee! Special thanks to these small businesses for supporting Zeke! And HUGE shout out to the Beacon for the front page article today!

Zeke is doing the CED Trash Pickup again this year! Please note the date, it's the Saturday BEFORE Earth Day. Come out...
03/31/2026

Zeke is doing the CED Trash Pickup again this year! Please note the date, it's the Saturday BEFORE Earth Day. Come out and help Zeke clean up our town.
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Thank you to Cody Abbott with Pend Oreille Realty!!!
03/29/2026

Thank you to Cody Abbott with Pend Oreille Realty!!!

Thank you Ruby Creek Resort!
03/29/2026

Thank you Ruby Creek Resort!

This is Zeke Stutzman. He is eleven years old and lives in Newport, WA. Today Zeke uses a wheelchair most of the time....
03/28/2026

This is Zeke Stutzman. He is eleven years old and lives in Newport, WA. Today Zeke uses a wheelchair most of the time. He suffers from a myriad of symptoms including (but not limited to) weakness and debilitating fatigue, pain, extreme anxiety, depression, and mental fog that belies his amazing intellect. This has not always been his life and we still clearly remember the Zeke from 4+ years ago. We remember the soccer games, hiking, horse vaulting, and normal daily activities that came so easily. We’ve been telling Zeke for four years that we will keep searching until we have answers for him. Answers that 15 different medical providers have been unable to give us.

And we did it! In mid-March of 2026, Zeke was finally diagnosed with Lyme, Babesia, and Tick Borne Encephalitis. His symptoms also align with those seen in Pediatric Long Covid, although there are no providers that will assign that diagnosis. One hurdle down, a whole race to still complete. Our focus very suddenly changed from “what’s wrong?” to “how do we treat this?”

This is when God led us to the Spero Clinic, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Their treatment program uses multiple various modalities to heal the nervous system, retraining the body to fight its own battle. Spero raises hope that we can rid Zeke’s body of Lyme and Covid, instead of using long term antibiotics to chip away at symptoms for the rest of his life. We are so excited to have found this option for Zeke!

However, the Spero Clinic program is a 14 week treatment commitment that requires us to temporarily relocate to Fayetteville. The cost of the treatment, transportation and housing add up to be overwhelming and completely unattainable for us alone. We are asking for your financial assistance to help Zeke ditch his wheels for good. So please spread the word, follow our progress and give generously.

FAQI’ve seen Zeke walking and running just fine. What’s the deal?Zeke has good moments, sometimes hours, and sometimes ...
03/28/2026

FAQ

I’ve seen Zeke walking and running just fine. What’s the deal?
Zeke has good moments, sometimes hours, and sometimes a whole day where his body works pretty well. He does PT two times a week and he stands and moves around for that as well. However, Zeke gets post-exertional malaise and he pays dearly for those good moments. Generally speaking, an hour of activity will wear Zeke out for the next 36 hours. Folks simply do not see the crash afterwards. Every activity that we plan has to be carefully orchestrated, with buffer days both before and after.

Zeke doesn’t LOOK sick, are you sure there’s a problem?
Yes, we are sure. When your child literally cannot lift their body out of the bed in the morning, there’s a problem. When your 11 year old child crawls on his hands and knees to get around the house, there’s a problem. When one day Zeke can rattle of code that confuses adults and the next day he has forgotten what 3x8 equals, there’s a problem. And when Zeke abstains from an activity that he loves because he simply does not have the energy, there’s a problem.

Do I know the Stutzman family?
The Stutzman family is made up of Matt and Rachel (parents), Flavi (19), Zeke (11) and Kate (10).

Many of you know Zeke as the founder and facilitator of the Community Earth Day Trash Pickup in Newport, WA. Zeke has a passion for keeping our earth clean and started the CED Trash Pickup at age 8 in order to have a direct impact on his community. Zeke has continued this effort, even as his body worked against him. He is an incredible kid.

What does Zeke like to do since he has limited energy and mobility?
Zeke has a brain for computer coding and mechanical engineering. He loves to tinker in Scratch and can create his own 3D print designs. Zeke loves to watch Mark Rober on YouTube and is enthralled by the engineering principles he presents. Zeke also loves Legos and applies his coding knowledge while building to create motorized inventions.

Doesn’t medical insurance cover some of this cost?
The simple answer is no. We have great medical insurance through Matt’s employer, but it is limited to very conventional testing and treatments. Our insurance would not even pay to have Zeke tested for Lyme. We are choosing a great treatment option at Spero, but because it does not fit in any conventional box, our insurance won’t even consider it.

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Newport, WA
99156

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