- April 24, 2024
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WINTER GARDEN — On Oct. 8, 2010, A.J. Ortiz, then 9, was visiting the home of his uncle, who had received a pair of Rottweilers as a gift.
While his aunt, the babysitter, was getting her medication and his parents were at a comedy club, A.J. was with the dogs, although it was night and the dogs had never known him, he said.
“(The dogs) were a little bit aggressive,” said A.J., now 13, of Winter Garden. “So I was at the car, and they thought I was a robber or thief, and they just came up and attacked.”
The lengthy attack left A.J. with many severe injuries necessitating emergency surgery.
“To me, the attack felt like a half-hour, but I think it was only 10 minutes or a little bit longer,” A.J. said. “The first surgery I had was eight hours long. The four worst injuries I had were: 40% of my scalp torn off — as you can see — both bones in my wrist broken in half; 5% of my calf muscle eaten alive; and 22 square centimeters of my butt torn off.”
In the subsequent five months, A.J. was in and out of the hospital for more surgeries, missing school and extracurricular activities, including Boy Scouts, his favorite.
“I still have the scars today,” he said. “It took me to recover over a year, but it was mostly for the head. I had stitches, staples — maybe over a thousand.”
AN EAGLE’S INSPIRATION
With little mobility amid his surgeries and recovery periods, A.J. found his hospital stays long and boring.
“It was very hard for me to walk, with the stitches and the muscle torn off a little bit,” he said. “It took a long time for me to be able to stand up, and I remember these ice cream parties the volunteer groups would throw for us. They were so meaningful to me — they would just make me forget about everything.”
The small touch of ice cream, video games and face-painting brightened A.J.’s stays.
“When I was (in the hospital) and felt miserable, bored all the time, couldn’t really move that much, and they threw the ice cream parties, I felt so happy,” he said. “I wanted others that were in the hospital or hurt and challenged to feel that same way, so for my Eagle Scout Project, I was researching places that hosted challenged people.”
Although A.J., a member of Troop 225 in Windermere, originally planned to volunteer at the hospital in Gainesville where he received treatment, HIPAA laws prevented him from doing so, which led him to The Russell Home for Atypical Children in Orlando. The Russell Home’s mission is to provide vital care for the special needs of such children, who are encouraged to develop and learn at their potential and pace.
“I’ve met over 30 of the children,” A.J. said. “If you just see them, you feel so bad for them, and you need to help them. The day I walked in there for the first time, I just felt that this was the place I would help.”
This has led to the collection of cardboard boxes, planning for donation zones and sending letters around the area.
“I have sent letters to big companies such as Publix, Hanes, Target, requesting at least a little bit of a donation,” A.J. said. “But so far, I have received nothing. We’re doing (collections) early February, and if I need more dates, I can just add some more later on.”
In addition to the many items A.J. hopes his community will help him gather, he intends to host an ice cream party at The Russell Home, based on those that he had as a patient.
“I want them to feel that they’re safe, they’re happy, excited, and to forget all of the problems that they have,” he said.
RETURN TO SCOUTS
At the time of the Rottweiler attack, A.J. was just starting fourth grade and a Webelo in Cub Scouts.
“Unlike Scouts, when you’re a Cub Scout, you have to go with your grade, and in Webelo II in fifth grade, you cross over,” said A.J.’s mother, Analissa Benedetti. “When the accident happened, he was starting fourth grade. He was out of school the rest of the year. He missed scouting that year — he couldn’t finish.”
That summer, before fifth grade, Benedetti was ready to toss out his Cub Scout uniform.
“I assumed, ‘Well, he didn’t finish, so he’s done with scouting,’” she said. “He was doing soccer; he was doing gymnastics — at the time of the accident, he had to stop everything. So I said, ‘Well, I guess the uniform goes to Goodwill.’”
A.J. told her no and asked why.
“I said, ‘Well, you didn’t complete your Webelo I, so you can’t do Webelo II, and you can’t cross over,’” Benedetti said. “He said, ‘No, no, no, no. I want to do both this year.’
A.J. completed both Webelo years by the end of fifth grade, in time to cross over to Scouts with his friends.
“At that time, I said, ‘This is his calling,’ because he never cared about going back to anything else, but he wanted to get his Arrow of Light, and he did,” Benedetti said. “And ever since, he’s had that interest in ranking up and badges.”
To avoid a rush from possible procrastination to become an Eagle Scout before turning 18, A.J. decided to earn the qualifications before high school and use those scouting years for enjoyment, she said.
“It’s actually been very easy to get the merit badges,” A.J. said. “They’re actually very fun. The most difficult one, I think, would be surveying.”
It is no surprise that A.J.’s favorite badge to earn so far has been life-saving.
“We had to swim 400 yards, lift up a 50-pound brick in the water and bring it to shore,” A.J. said of earning his life-saving badge. “It’s very tough, and I like challenges.”
A.J. Ortiz is hoping to collect the following items for children at The Russell Home for Atypical Children.
• 500 white socks-boys crew/girls footie socks
• 750 large yard trash bags
• 2,250 kitchen trash bags
• 6,300 sturdy three-compartment disposable plates
• 150 white washcloths
• 75 plastic dispensers of scotch tape with tape
• 36 bags of 52-load laundry pods
• 18 16- to 18-ounce bottles of liquid body wash for boys and 24 bottles for girls
• 36 33-ounce bottles of mouthwash
• During Mass Feb. 7, 8, 14, 15, at Resurrection Catholic Church, 1211 Winter Garden Vineland Road, Winter Garden
• 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 6, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 7 and 8, at Publix, 2600 Maguire Road, Ocoee
• 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 7 and 8, at Publix, 7880 Winter Garden Vineland Road, Windermere
• 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 9 to 13, at SunRidge Middle School, 14955 SunRidge Blvd., Winter Garden
• 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 13, and 9 a.m. to 5 pm. Feb. 14 and 15, at the Publix at Stoneybrook West Village, 15502 Stoneybrook West Parkway, No. 100, Winter Garden
Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].
