Father holds fundraiser for daughter

A St. Joseph family plays horseshoes in hopes of saving a life. Today the Haynes family held a fundraiser at the Noyes horseshoe courts to raise money for their daughter`s medical expenses. Their two-year-old daughter suffers from kidney failure. Horseshoes are considered a symbol of luck. And that`s what the Haynes family is hoping for with this tournament. Alex`s daughter, Alexis, is only two and a half years old and already knows the pain of an adult disease. Alexis suffers from Nephrotic Syndrome. "Both of her kidney`s are kind of bad and we`re not so much close to getting a transplant," Alexis` dad Alex Haynes says. Still, their daughter has spent much of her young life at Children`s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. "You thank God every day for what goes on. And you see some of the kids down there and those kids down there are just fighting for their lives," Alex says. The medical expenses are a struggle, so Alex decided to arrange a fundraiser. With the help of his friends, the put together this horseshoe tournament complete with prizes and raffles. "He plays horseshoes constantly. We`re just a good group of people trying to help him out with medical expenses so he can get back and forth to Kansas City and pay his daughter`s medication bills," Family friend Robby Barnes says. Normally in horseshoes a ringer equals three points, but today every ringer is helping to save one little girl`s life. "We`re hoping that we can pay for some of her medicine and save some of the money back for more medicine because she`s going to be on it for quite a while," Alex says. Alex says with all of the complications, it`s hard for Alexis to have a normal childhood. "If we keep her out in the sun very long she`ll get burnt and if she gets stung by a wasp it`ll be very hard to get the medicine and stuff for it," Alex says. But with the help of money raised from the tournament, Alex says Alexis can continue to enjoy the things she loves the most. "She loves to go to the park. She loves to go wee, as in to swing," Alex says. Haynes hopes his daughter will outgrow the syndrome. However, doctors say Alexis could face a kidney transplant if the problem persists.