Youths Rally Around Injured Friend
September 25, 1986
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Author: S. E. Siebert
His friends say George Butera would do anything to help someone else. He has always been a good friend, someone you can count on.
When Butera was the victim of a swimming accident in June, his friends organized projects to raise money for his rehabilitation.
One of them is an outdoor concert that will take place Sunday in Whitpain Township. Bands such as Tommy Conwell’s Young Rumblers, Beru Revue, Smash Palace and the Flamin’ Caucasians, as well as comedian Craig Shoemaker, will perform at Mermaid Lake during the concert, which will begin shortly after noon. Radio personalities from WMMR-FM will play host.
Proceeds from the concert will benefit Butera, the sponsors say. Butera, 18, was left a quadriplegic as a result of the accident, which took place in June off the New Jersey shore.
On June 21, after a hectic freshman year at Temple University, Butera and two friends drove to Ocean City for the day. Butera left his friends on the beach and went for a swim.
The Butera family was told that their son was pulled from the water after a lifeguard saw him floating face-down for a few seconds.
Joseph Keidel, a high school friend who went with Butera to the shore, said he was surprised by the accident. He said Butera had been on the high school swimming team and was a good swimmer.
After the accident, Keidel and about 50 other teenagers decided to raise funds to help pay for their friend’s expenses. Most of the volunteers attended Wissahickon High School with Butera.
The effort is being headed by Kathy Kelly and Wit Hammond. Kelly is a parent of one of the students, and Hammond is the owner of J.B. Witley’s, a Whitpain restaurant where some Wissahickon High School graduates work.
Hammond said he learned of Butera’s accident through his employees.
Butera’s friends have raised more than $13,000 for the rehabilitation fund by holding a beef and beer get-together and a community raffle.
Hammond said that all of performers at the concert, including three disk jockeys — Pierre Robert, Lynne Kratz and Cindy Drew — would donate their time.
“Right now, George’s life is limited. We’d like to make his life better and give him the things he needs for the future,” said Hammond.
Future needs for Butera will include ramps for his home and a specialized van for his wheelchair, Hammond said.
The concert is not the end of the group’s efforts, Hammond said. The students hope to have a computer donated to Butera, and to organize more benefits.
Butera spent most of the summer at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and was recently transferred to Craig Hospital, a facility in Englewood, Colo., that specializes in spinal injuries.
To allow Butera to breathe with a respirator, a tracheotomy was performed, leaving him with limited speech.
“It’s difficult,” said his mother, Toni. “George is a talker, and sometimes we have to try to read lips.”
Toni Butera, a switchboard receptionist, and her husband, Gab, an engineer, live near Norristown.
Butera’s mother said her son had been depressed and once thought his college days were over. But he recently told friends that he intends to enroll in college next year.
Tickets for the concert are available at Ticketron, Teletron and J.B. Witley’s, on DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell. They are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the show. The gates will open at noon, and the show will last until dusk.