Alleluias chorus to help friends

Concert: The choral group is performing Sunday in a benefit for the family of an injured teen-ager.

Preview

"When something like this happens, it changes your focus instantly."

Those are the words that Nancy Wisthoff of Columbia uses to describe her reaction to news that she and husband, Tim Wisthoff, received March 9.

The Wisthoffs' son, Michael, 16, a sophomore at Oakland Mills High School, had been critically injured in a car crash. He was a passenger in an automobile with five other Oakland Mills students. The car flipped and landed on its roof against the brick wall of a home in the Allview section of Columbia.

Michael's injuries were the most serious. He was in a coma for three weeks and spent another six weeks in the hospital, a victim of "TBI," traumatic brain injury.

The accident was reported on television and in the newspapers for a few days in March. But the repercussions continue to challenge the Wisthoff family in the present and beyond."[It's] our faith in God that has kept us going," said Nancy Wisthoff.

"And the prayers of many," added her husband.

The parents are grateful for the support given to them, Michael, and daughters Amy, 18, and Cindy, 13. Meals, transportation and encouragement provided by community and friends has been "incredible," Nancy said.

Cindy's classmates at Oakland Mills Middle School donated the proceeds from their yearly fund-raiser to the family.

Now, as the long-term financial burdens of the family have become apparent, their friends have another plan to help.

For seven years, Tim Wisthoff has sung baritone in a Howard County choral group, the Alleluias. The choir, which performs 14 concerts a year for churches, organizations and nursing homes, will end its 29th season Sunday with a benefit concert in honor of Michael Wisthoff.

Jerry Loiselle, a tenor in the choir, describes the Wisthoffs as people who have always "been there to help" others in need.

Loiselle said the concert is "our way to give back to them a little of what they've given to a lot of other people."

The Wisthoff family recently received a $97,000 bill for Michael's initial three-week hospital stay. They now must deal with the complications of getting coverage from the insurance companies involved.

The Wisthoffs face long-term financial obligations and the loss of Nancy Wisthoff's job as she takes a leave of absence to care for her son.

"We're just trying to alleviate some of the financial burden," said Loiselle.

The good news is that Michael continues to improve. He attends an intensive training and rehabilitation program at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore five days a week. He is beginning to walk and talks in complete sentences. "He's had to relearn everything, completely everything, from breathing on," Nancy Wisthoff said.

His parents hope that Michael will be able to return to Oakland Mills High in the fall, possibly through an assisted program.

Sunday's concert will feature old-fashioned hymns, praise music, "Scripture songs" and "songs of encouragement," said Elaine Everhart, director of the Alleluias. The choir will be accompanied by musicians on keyboard, piano, trumpets, flute and cello.

"We just want to let [the Wisthoffs] know how much we love them," Everhart said.

She said the choir will sing "When Answers Aren't Enough" "especially for Mike."

"Sometimes things happen to us [that] we have no control over," she said. " ... And the Lord is there to help us deal with these things."

The concert begins at 6 p.m. at Crossroads Church of the Nazarene, 2750 Rogers Ave., Ellicott City. No admission will be charged, but an offering will be collected. Information: 410-465- 8478. Checks on behalf of the Wisthoffs should be made out to the Alleluias and sent to treasurer Mary Carter, 1750 Daisy Road, Woodbine 21797.