Bake sale raises funds for boy’s heart surgery

The atrium of the Peninsula Medical Center in Marquette Tuesday was lined with delicious cupcakes, scrumptious brownies, and tasty cookies for bake sale to benefit a young Marquette boy who is facing heart surgery.

Five–year–old Brett Fassbender was born with a leaky heart valve and it needs to be repaired.  Brett and his family will soon be traveling to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor for the procedure.

His mother Ashley says Brett will be in the hospital for at least a week.

“He was born with aortic stenosis bicuspid valve, which is the valve that pushes all of the blood back into your heart,” Ashley Fassbender said.  “His does not open and close fully like it should, so in other words the blood doesn’t stay in his heart. So they’re going to be replacing that.”

Friends, family and the community have rallied together to help Brett’s family cover travel expenses and medical costs.

“There’s been people that saw it on Facebook and brought baked goods today,” Ashley said.  “Tons of business doing raffles and the entire medical center has brought tons of baked goods.”

There will be a car wash Saturday, June 8 at Econo Foods in Marquette to help raise funds for Brett’s upcoming operation.  There is also an account for donations set up at the Marquette Federal Credit Union in Brett’s name.