Brittany Ziegler, physical therapist at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Erie, with Riley Smith Mallon of Dunkirk.

ERIE, Pa. — Local Boy Scout and Shriners Hospitals for Children in Erie patient Riley Smith Mallon recently completed a special Eagle Scout Project to benefit patient families of the Erie Shriners Medical Center.

In 2018, at 12 years old, Riley was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis, a curvature of the spine.

After much research, his family decided to pursue a holistic approach to his treatment and selected Shriners Hospitals for Children in Erie for his care. The medical center was the only location within 100 miles of his home in Dunkirk that offered a scoliosis-specific exercise (SSE) program based on the work of Katherina and C.L. Schroth – or the Schroth principles.

The Schroth based method is a curve-specific and comprehensive conservative treatment program that uses exercises to help patients improve their postural alignment and minimize progression of the spinal curvature. In early 2019, Riley began working with physical therapist, Brittany Ziegler, to establish his personalized scoliosis-specific exercise program.

The family immediately purchased the equipment needed for in-home daily exercise sessions, including stall bars, which look like a wall ladder. By summer 2019, Riley’s posture and core strength had improved significantly.

Riley knew that the equipment his family purchased for his in-home program had cost several hundred dollars, and he wondered if all the patients undergoing SSE were able to afford their own equipment. During one of his regular therapy sessions, Riley asked Brittany if most of her patients had the necessary equipment.

He was surprised to learn that only about 25% of her patients had access to stall bars at home, which are not typically covered by medical insurance. Riley wanted to help.

Riley developed a plan to work with his fellow scouts from Fredonia Troop 267 to digitize the existing SSE therapy manual and raise money to purchase home SSE equipment for other patient families, as his Eagle Scout service project.

On Jan. 20, the project proposal was approved by the Troop Committee. In addition to digitizing the therapy manual, Riley’s plan included two fundraisers: a letter writing campaign and a swim-a-thon.

The following day, on Jan. 21, the proposal was approved by Shriners Hospitals for Children in Erie and Riley also found out that he needed spinal surgery. The surgery was scheduled for March. Riley revised his project timeline so that fundraising and digital planning would be complete before his March 20 surgery date. He would spend his six-week post-surgery recovery editing and compiling the manual and communicating with his digital team electronically.

The letter writing campaign began in February and the “Swim for Schroth” swim-a-thon event was held on March 6. Between the two fundraisers, over $5,000 was raised for the project. On March 11, the digital team met, jobs and duties were assigned and work began on the manual.

The project was progressing exactly as planned. And then, due to COVID-19, within three days, schools were closed and moved to remote instruction, stay-at-home orders were issued and Riley’s surgery was postponed.

Although the timeline would have to be modified, Riley was determined to complete the project for the patient families of Shriners Hospitals for Children. Finally, on Aug. 17, five weeks post-surgery, Riley delivered 25 copies of the therapy manual, a digital copy of the manual and a check for $5000. Riley’s hard work and unfaltering determination had paid off.