Schwartz School student selected for 50th annual Meeting Street Telethon

When Alex Murphy of West Bridgewater was still in his mother’s womb he had a stroke that caused him to be born with a number of complex medical needs.

Murphy was born with microcephaly, which causes a baby’s brain to be smaller than average and underdeveloped, creating other complicated medical conditions, such as Murphy's cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

He’s now 11-years-old and a sixth grader at The Schwartz School — a Meeting Street school based in Dartmouth for students between the ages of three and 22 who have multiple disabilities and complex medical needs. Murphy is also a surfer, artist and Patriots fan.

On Saturday, Jan. 31 Murphy will be one of four Meeting Street students co-hosting the organization’s 50th annual telethon. The other students will come from the three other schools in the Meeting Street system.

“They like to have a variety of kids represented when hosting the telethon, and Alex has been at the Schwartz for his entire school career,” said Murphy’s mother Julie Govain. She noted that Murphy started attending The Schwartz School when he was three and will continue attending until he turns 22.

The annual telethon raises money to support the Meeting Street programs and ensure that students and their families have the resources they need.

Govain explained that through The Schwartz School she’s been able to have access to equipment such as wheelchairs and communication devices, as well as services such as physical therapy that would have been difficult to obtain on her own.

She noted that the school’s necessary resources are not cheap, with machinery and equipment often costing thousands of dollars.

“These donations [from the telethon] are just really pivotal in allowing these schools to run in the way that they do,” Govain said.

During the telethon, Murphy’s family and those of the other co-hosts will be interviewed live on stage while a panel of people will take calls in the back.

Throughout the night they will also be showing photos and videos of the kids participating in the events that go on in their schools.

“They’re looking at the inspirational stories of the co-hosts,” Govain said. “The families of the co-hosts will be on stage for a little bit. You’ll get to learn about them.”

And Murphy’s story is one of them.

When he was seven in 2020, Murphy got sick again and had deterioration of the brain that “significantly” increased his level of needs, Govain explained.

"There wasn't really an explanation for that other than being told that his disease was progressing," she said.

She recalled asking the doctor what disease her son had because she had previously been told that Murphy's stroke was an isolated event and that there wouldn't be any progression.

"Here we were, and it was happening, so [the doctor] couldn't really give me a clear cut answer," Govain said. "The brain works in serious ways, and a lot of times it's very unique for each case."

Getting sick a second time caused Murphy’s medical needs to increase, such as talks of getting a tracheostomy to help him breathe. A tracheostomy, also called a trach, is a surgically created hole in the neck that allows air to pass through the windpipe to help with breathing.

“My biggest thing was that unless we deemed it extremely medically necessary where there were no other resorts,” Govain said of the tracheostomy.

She explained that she didn’t want to take away the things her son loved and decrease his quality of life.

“We made essentially a deal with the doctors like, ‘let’s see what can we do at this point to get him through one more summer,’” Govain said.

That year Murphy’s family found Gnome Surf, a Fall River-based organization that allows surfing for kids of all abilities, and Murphy’s health started to improve.

“I think that gave Alex essentially a new life in the sense of it gave him something to look forward to between 2020 and 2021,” Govain said.

She noted that this was during a time when Murphy was in and out of the hospital monthly.

“That can be depressing for him, for me, for anyone,” Govain said. “Navigating medical needs like this, it can be tough.”

When he took up surfing at Gnome Surf, he had something to look forward to, something that Govain said “almost turned him all around.”

“He did it for the first time in July of 2021, and he surfed and he was squealing with a big, giant smile on his face,” she said.

She said, “Now that he was happier, I feel like it helped build him stronger physically.”

By the end of the summer, Murphy was no longer required to be on oxygen during the day and didn’t have to have a trach placed in his neck, though he does still require deep suctioning multiple times a day and a one-on-one nurse at school.

“The accommodations The Schwartz School provides around that is … whatever level of needs the kids require, they will be there to assist any way possible,” Govain said.

The telethon will be broadcasted on WPRI-12 and can be streamed at MeetingStreet.org starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31.