Motocross track in rural Waukon hosting a benefit event for one of its riders Saturday

The Fan Ridge MX motocross track, owned and operated by Dale Fletcher in rural Waukon, will be the site of a benefit event that has been arranged to show support and raise funds for one of the track’s frequent riders this Saturday, September 30. The community is invited to the ‘Take a Rip for Dalton’ event, beginning at 9 a.m., whether they are motocross riders themselves or not.

August 21 of this year, area motocross enthusiast Dalton Seymour of Farmersburg had a seizure in his sleep. His wife, Erin - whom he had exchanged vows with just nine days earlier, called 911 and an ambulance transported him to the hospital in Elkader. He was given medication to stop the seizures and taken to have a CT scan done.

Shortly after the scan, the doctor came in and told the couple that they had found a mass on Dalton’s brain and that he wanted to transfer them to a different hospital in order for Dalton to have an MRI and have neurosurgeons available if needed. During his transfer to Iowa City, Dalton continued to have seizures, and due to the continual increase in medications in trying to alleviate the seizures, he was no longer able to protect his airway and was put on a ventilator.

An MRI in Iowa City showed the mass in his brain, and he was then transferred to the Surgical and Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit at University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, where he remained on a ventilator until the next morning but was eventually released to a room in the main hospital to continue monitoring the seizures and making adjustments to his medications in an effort to control them. Dalton was then released to an acute therapy rehabilitation facility just over a week after his initial seizure, Tuesday, August 29, and was then able to return home until he was scheduled for an awake craniotomy Thursday, September 14 in Iowa City.

After several more days in the hospital following the surgery on his brain, a recent update indicates that while doctors believe they were able to remove nearly all the tumor, Dalton will still have to undergo further testing and scans to determine what further treatment plan to take. He is reported as having returned home near the middle of last week and has been resting comfortably.

“With Dalton not being able to work and his wife not being able to work as much, we are organizing this fun, family-friendly event to help raise some funds to help with living expenses, medical bills, food, and gas to get to and from the hospital,” organizers of the ‘Take a Rip for Dalton’ explained.

The event will allow all riders who come to the track to ride for a free-will donation, and there will also be a lunch served at 11:30 a.m. for a free-will donation as well, with all of the proceeds from the event being designated for Dalton and his family. Additionally, a live auction of many donated items from local and surrounding communities will be held at 3 p.m., and there will also be a raffle at 1:30 p.m. for a brand new SSR 125 4-speed pit motorcycle. The JayR Brink band will be playing live music from 4:30-7:30 p.m.

“This event is not only for riders,” event organizers shared. “If you don’t ride, please still come out and have a great time, get some delicious food, and win some sweet stuff - all of which will support our buddy, Dalton, through this very hard time.”

More information about the event can be found in the advertisement above. A GoFundMe page has also been established for Dalton and his family. Updates and more information can be found at https://gofund.me/498679c0.