Benefit for Maskell family set for Aug. 3

July 27--It's always busy in the Maskell-Mistalski household.

With six children, including 4-year-old quadruplets, three of whom have cerebral palsy, Bridgett Maskell, 38, and her husband, John Mistalski, 41, are always on the move.

"Our day starts between 5 and 5:30 a.m.," Maskell said. "We're constantly on the go."

Born Oct. 1, 2009, the quadruplets were 25 days early. A fifth baby, Kayla, died 16 days after birth.

Justin, Tyler and Anna Belle, three of the quadruplets, attend schools that specialize in working with developmentally disabled children. Anna Belle is unable to walk, requires a wheelchair to get around and is non-verbal. Justin and Tyler wear braces and make adjustments for the movement disorder.

"Cerebral palsy affects everybody in a different way," Maskell said. "Justin actually has seizures because of it."

Anna Belle has been going to the Shriner's Hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, for the past year for treatment that may allow her to move around more.

Ramona, the fourth of the quadruplets, attends regular school, but does have respiratory issues and delayed reactions, Maskell said.

Maskell also has 13-year-old twins, Brandon and Aimee Jo, from a previous marriage. The twins play an integral part in the day-to-day operations of the home.

"I don't know where we would be without the twins," Maskell said. "We would be walking zombies or the craziest people you've ever met."

Along with taking care of the children, Maskell works during the day at Walmart in Lockport, and Mistalski works overnights at Walmart in Niagara Falls. Mistalski is also a volunteer firefighter.

The family is starting to outgrow the confines of their modest home on West Caledonia Street. A wheelchair ramp was recently finished, which allows Anna Belle much easier access into the home. Before the ramp, Maskell and Mistalski had to lift her up and down the stairs, in her wheelchair, several times a day.

Further adaptations have to be made inside the house to accommodate Anna Belle. She's too big for her current wheelchair and is going to need an electric wheelchair to move around in her new school, Maskell said; the new chair is going to take up more room in the house and make it that much more difficult to move around.

"Right now she fits," she said, "but in the next year or so, she's not going to."

The family is looking to put on an addition so Anna Belle can have her own bedroom, and widen doorways so that she can move freely around the home. A handicap-accessible bathroom on is the list too.

Home expansion is "so (Anna Belle) can move around and eat dinner at the table like a normal kid," Maskell said.

To that end, friends of the family are holding a benefit Aug. 3 at South Lockport Fire Hall, 5666 South Transit Road. The benefit runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature a 50/50 drawing, basket raffles and catered dinners by Donna Eick's Restaurant. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $12 at Donna Eick's Restaurant, 7 Charles St., or by calling Suzi Eick, 812-4993, Jennifer McCartin, 990-1174 or Samantha Volschow, 531-6123.

The family is extremely thankful for their friends who are putting the benefit together, Maskell said, and the community, which has donated over 200 baskets to the cause.

Any money left over after renovation of the Maskell-Mistalski home will be donated to Women & Children's Hospital, Mistalski said.

Contact reporter Michael Canfield at 439-9222, ext. 6246, or follow him on Twitter @MikeCanfield36.

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