Teen with Lyme disease wins hearts of motorcycle club

It's no wonder the Ocean City Mayor and City Council described the 10th-grade Parkside High School student as a courageous, talented and amazing young lady and presented her a key to the city. Kelsey Warren took baby steps to the podium, and struggling, belted out "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful."

Not surprising, either, that the Maryland 3 chapter of the Red Knights International Firefighters Motorcycle Club made her an honorary member and awarded her the group's authentic leather vest.

Kelsey is wheel-chair bound with Lyme disease, a bacterial infection typically spread by black-legged ticks, which can severely affect respiratory, circulatory and neurological systems. Illness and periods of hospitalization have kept her from school with classmates and extracurricular activities. Rather, she is tutored at the family's home in Willards, where she dreams of being active again like her former classmates.

She had performed patriotic songs at several Ocean City Air Show events and repeated them at similar shows at the region's race track.

The Red Knights chapter had counted on her voice kicking off this year's air show at the Ocean Downs Racetrack. The group hoped she'd be at the annual 9-11 tribute by the Red Knights to honor those who lost their lives in one of the country's darkest hours. A worthy cause, Kelsey thought. So the weakened teen, leaning against her mother, Julie, took the microphone and muscled up her vocal chords to sing.

"Kelsey has sung 'The Star-Spangled Banner' for the 9-11 Memorial Tribute the last two years," said John Tartufo, an officer in the Maryland 3 chapter of Red Knights. "We see her as a child that is courageous, determined and counted."

Club members were so moved by her sacrifice they decided the teenager with the golden voice was deserving of more than membership into the club, of more than the chicken noodle soup Tartufo delivered personally from his restaurant when she was sick with a bug.

"They wanted to give her the Key to the City of Ocean City," said her mother, Julie Warren. Chapter members shared their idea about the key to Sen. James Mathias, D-38, and Ocean City Mayor Richard Meehan. "They asked Senator Mathias to help, and the Ocean City Mayor got involved."

On a rainy night last week, the Red Knights drove motorcycles and pickup trucks to the Warren's home to present Kelsey with the special key and a tailored leather vest decorated with emblems of the club. Kelsey became one of the most distinguished members of the group.

"She is the first child to be made an honorary member of the Red Knights," Tartufo said.

Kelsey is the youngest recipient that Meehan can recall giving a key to the city.

"She's a brave little girl," Meehan said. "I watched her perform at the Fireman's Memorial as we remembered 9-11 on the Boardwalk. She sang 'The Star Spangled Banner,' and everybody knew she was fighting the disease. She strongly sang the song beautifully."

The honors are a dose of medicine that strengthened Kelsey's morale.

"It all started with her singing down there," said Kelsey's dad, Shane Warren. "Then she got Lyme, and was sick after her first performance in 2014. There's a special bond between her and those guys. The Red Knights are part of the journey for her. They are an enormous source of support for her."

"We kept it secret; she had no idea what they were planning," Julie Warren said. "It was hard to keep a straight face. Now, she is one of them — in teenage form."

Kelsey was finishing homework when vehicles revved outside.

"I knew when they came in who they were, but I wondered why they were here," she said. "It's cool. It made me happy."

Until her illness, Kelsey sang around the region, opening popular events such as air shows at the beach, Shorebirds baseball games at the Arthur Perdue Stadium in Salisbury and the 9-11 Tribute in Ocean City. That's how she met members of the motorcycle club.

Kelsey, an honor student, was stricken with Lyme after completing Pittsville Elementary and Middle School, spending only two weeks at Parkside with her ninth-grade class.

"Science is my favorite subject," Kelsey said, raising up on the living room sofa.

If ever there was a town to award his daughter a key, Ocean City would have been the family's choice, said Shane Warren, who grew up in the resort town. His wife grew up in nearby Berlin.

"We were high school sweethearts," he said.

Shane Warren recalled summer outings with Kelsey and her brother, 12-year-old Harrison, on the Ocean City Boardwalk where the family runs B and F bicycle rentals. His grandfather, Bob Fitzgerald, started the business in the 1970s.

"She's athletic, takes karate and likes bicycle riding," he said of his daughter. "We look forward to her being active again."

The town of Ocean City looks toward Kelsey's return for more singing engagements.

"It's important to us to recognize her," Meehan said. "She's fighting the disease, and she came and sang and wanted to be a part of the remembrance. We hope to have her back singing."

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