![]() In 2019, Taylor joined her youth cheerleading squad to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the fire department’s first benefit tractor pull, which rallied community support for 6-year-old Ella Conroy, a little cheerleader who was battling cancer. This isn’t the family’s first experience with the fire department’s benefit events. “It had Taylor very excited to be famous. It definitely warmed our hearts,” she said. ![]() “The community support is something that was unexpected to us. It not only helps alleviate financial concerns, but she said it reminds the Roles family they aren’t alone. Having the community rally behind her with this benefit event means a lot to the family, Roles said. She takes seven different medications daily in an effort to control her seizures. She recently returned to school in the special education life skills program, where she must be accompanied by a nurse, Pflueger said. “She’s really doing a lot better,” her mother said. Roles said her daughter did suffer some brain injury, but it was not as significant as what some children with FIRES have. “She had to relearn how to hold her head up, how to talk and walk, how to eat,” Pflueger said. The road to recovery was difficult, as Taylor went through months of rehabilitation. “Scientifically, it was likely she would never wake up or remain in a vegetative state,” her mother said. She was on palliative care, and doctors began preparing her family for the worst scenarios. Taylor underwent two brain operations while she was in a coma. The next day, she was put in a medically induced coma. The next day, she began having seizures and was taken by ambulance to Children’s Hospital. Then, on July 23, Taylor developed a fever. Last summer, she was a perfectly healthy child, said her mother, Kimberly. It is an extremely rare condition that affects about one in 1 million children, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. Taylor was diagnosed last year with a rare form of epilepsy known as febrile infection related epilepsy, or FIRES. Taylor Roles, a sixth grader at Freeport Middle School, was the perfect fit. Erin Pflueger, a member of the fire department who helps organize the event, said they would know the right fit when they saw it. The fire department accepted about a dozen nominations for local families in need who could be helped by the event. ![]() South Buffalo Volunteer Fire Department’s third annual tractor pull will benefit a local 12-year-old who was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy.
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