Pat Hardy Benefit Sept. 21 At The Double Barrel Saloon & Casino

Fairview -- A benefit for 25-year-old Fairview native Pat Hardy and his wife Salina will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Double Barrel Saloon & Casino, Fairview, The evening begins with a chili dinner at 5 p.m. and silent auction from 5-7:30 p.m., followed by a live auction at 8 p.m. Donations for the auctions may be dropped off with Jacq Free at MonDak Family Clinic or Mel at Horizon Resources in Fairview. In Sidney, Jessica at Thrivent Financial and Kimberly at Franz Construction are collecting items.

On Sunday, Sept. 22, the FHS Class of 2017 is hosting a Pickleball Tournament at Sharbono Park beginning at 2 p.m. The two-player team entry fee is $50. Concessions will be available with all proceeds from the tournament and food going to Pat and Salina. Call Jenna Bieber at 406-489-1828 to sign up.

There is also an account set up at Merchants Bank, Fairview, for those who wish to donate.

The son of Jim and Mary Hardy, Pat graduated from Fairview High School in 2017 where he played football and basketball and ran track for the Warriors. He attended Minot State University, where he also played football. He is in his second year of teaching and coaching football and girls' basketball at Bishop Ryan.

According to Mary, he was golfing with friends when he started having severe headaches. Against the advice of Salina and Mary, he drove himself to the hospital in Minot where testing showed a brain bleed due to a fiscular AVM, a tangle of blood vessels that creates irregular connections between arteries and veins in the brain. He was life-flighted to Sanford Regional Medical Center, Fargo, on Aug. 16 and underwent a 12-hour surgery on the Aug.18. After several days spent in ICU, Pat entered a rehab facility where he underwent intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy. Physical therapy discharged him on Saturday, Aug. 31 and Pat and Salina headed home to Minot.

Although physically Pat is doing well, Mary said he has a long road ahead with out-patient occupational and speech therapy which will only be partially covered by his insurance. She said he has aphasia where he knows what he wants to say but can't come up with the words and apraxia where there is a disconnect between the brain and the muscles in the mouth, tongue and face. The hope is that speech therapy will help Pat regain his full speaking abilities. The couple will head back to Fargo the end of September for a repeat angiogram to determine his condition, a process that will be repeated at six months, one year, and so on. AVM is a congenital condition and Pat had one episode which was treated with radiation surgery while he was still in high school. It is not connected with his years as an athlete.

Pat's family is extremely grateful for the outpouring of support from the community. "It's wonderful that people are doing this benefit for him," Mary said tearfully. "The people in the community are just amazing." They are also very appreciative of the support from the Minot and Bishop Ryan community. "They have all been so supportive," Mary said.

Join your friends and neighbors in supporting this young couple Sept. 21 and 22.