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Bo's Team Rocks!
By Skipper the Door County Otter and Sponsored by Lakeshore Motorsports LLC
Nov 2, 2011 - 8:59:00 AM
Bo and visiting buds play video games in the hospital.
Hi everyone, Skipper here. The guys here at the magazine finally let me get some extra computer time so I could write this story. It was kind of my own idea, because when I ventured up to Sister Bay to sneak a peek at the big Fall Fest that the humans do every year, I saw scads of the humans wearing orange thingys on their heads and on their wrists and stuff. They all read "Go Bo!"
So I asked my own self, what in the heck is this "Go Bo" craze all about? Orange, orange, orange, everywhere. Humans large and small were dancing around (see the vid below by Chris Miller), shouting happy slogans loudly, and generally having a great time. I also spotted humans putting money into hats and buckets ... very cool, but why?
I got to use the company car to research this story. Woot!
Back at the office, I did some research about this "Go Bo" effort. Wow, I got really excited clicking and scrolling through all the Bo stuff on Facebook. I even started reading a journal written by Bo himself almost every day on this web site called "Caring Bridge" - is he ever a great writer too - just like me! I took a drive up to Sister Bay to snoop around and find out more.
So here's the scoop.
As you most likely know, human children and otters have much in common. They absolutely love the water. Not too long ago when the weather was warmer, Bo Johnson, a 12-year old human boy from Sister Bay, was out on a jet ski having fun with his buds. Fun to play in the water, although us otters don't need such contraptions as these jet skis to fly through the deep blue seas. We have strong tails to propel us!
Bo is the grandson of Al Johnson, the founder of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay. How cool is that? I'm just sayin' so you know. That's the place with the awesome Swedish pancakes with lingonberry sauce and whipped cream. Yummy!
Acute Myeloid Leukemia cells (the bad guys).
Anyway, there was a little accident with that jet ski, and Bo landed in a hospital with a hurt leg. Well, they fixed that up, but after several days it still hurt and his Mum Annika took him back for more fixing. Other things seemed wrong, Bo felt rotten, and the doctors scratched their heads so much it hurt. So Bo's Mum took him to a bigger hospital down in Milwaukee, a big city to our south. The doctors there didn't scratch their heads so much, and they found out he has leukemia, which means tiny bad guys invading his body and making him sick. Oh, oh. That means getting out the big gun medicine that helps the human body do battle with the bad guys in the blood, etc. Get it?
Now we otters don't have these hospitals to go to when we're ailing. We actually head for the deep forest and visit an old gal by the name of Rukky Garge, a local otterfixer. You can read more about this amazing lady here, courtesy Wikipedia. I've never been sick enough to have to go see her, but me ole Mum told me it's written in the Redwall Encyclopedia that "she's an ancient female otter living alone in a
cave in Mossflower about three days' march from
Rukky Garge, otter-fixer.
Redwall. All her fur has turned
silvery white with age, she has no teeth left, and she walks bent over with a walking
stick. She wears hooped gold earrings and a black cloak covered with shiny
ornaments. She is legendary for her skills as a healer, but she will only treat
other otters. She dislikes being touched, and collects shiny trinkets". I'm thinking she's somewhere over near Cave Point, along the shore of Lake Michigan. She makes sick otters drink nasty stuff she makes from herbs and junk, but they all get well. Too bad it's only for otters!
School lockers have "Go Bo" ribbons posted.
Anyway, Bo is doing great, thanks to his treatment plan and his big team of friends. Bo's team is captained by his Mum, Annika, who is staying with him at the hospital. She might even get to stay at the Ronald McDonald House pretty soon. I'm likin' it! Bo's Uncle Lars, Uncle Rolf, and his Dad are also helping cheer him on, along with his ever-growing group of friends and fans. Bo's friends from Gibraltar School even put on a school dance to raise money to help Bo and his Mum with expenses. Some kids just went around collecting donations to do something to help Bo. They love him! Bo's team rocks!
Grownups in the area are getting many cool things made to sell to people who want to help Bo. There are "Go Bo" caps you can buy at Hat Head in Fish Creek, "Go Bo" bracelets you can get at Al Johnson's Restaurant in Sister Bay, and "Go Bo" frig magnets coming soon to the Hide Side Corner Store in Fish Creek. T-shirts are also in the works! You can also make a cash donation to the "Go Bo" effort at Associated Bank, Sister Bay. Me? I'm getting a bracelet, but since my wrists are small, I'll wear it as a necklace!
You can write to Bo using this snail mail address:
Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin
c/o Bo Miller Johnson
Room E572
Milwaukee, WI 53226 (Note: Please don't send flowers ... he has more than enough!)
Larry the Lizard sports a "Go Bo" necklace.
You
can actually go visit Bo Johnson in the big hospital at certain times and
days when he can have visitors, but you gotta have had your annual flu shot, and of course you better not have a cold or cough, etc. That first requirement leaves me out. Otters don't get flu shots, but you probably already knew that.
Want to keep up with all the "Go Bo" news? You can join his Facebook group called "GO BO Johnson!". You might also want to sign up to get Bo's almost daily journal writings at his Caring Bridge website page. You'll learn a lot from this site about his fight with the tiny but nasty leukemia bad guys and how he keeps himself going strong. Plus you'll find out real quick that Bo has a great positive attitude. One day he wrote, "I have to stay strong, even though I hate everything that is happening to me."
So all the otters and other creatures in Door County and other places join Bo's big team and holler, squeak, crow, shriek, chirp, coo, bray, growl, screech, drone, bellow, grunt, moo, cluck, sing, yelp, creak, caw, bark, quack, chant, trumpet, scream, cackle, roar, neigh, bellow, howl, bleat, warble, hiss, whoop, and gobble "Go Bo"!
Here's the video mentioned above ... it's awesome!
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