The EZ Rocks – Skate for the Cure benefit ramped up at the Bellevue Skate Park on Friday to honor Ethan Zakes and support the nonprofit his parents established to advocate early detection of the rare and deadly disease that took their son.
Ten-year-old Ethan Zakes died in 2011, only a few years after being diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy, a disease that affects the nervous system and adrenal glands. An avid skateboarder, Ethan spent much of his spare time at the skate park.
“Ethan loved the sport,” said his father, Brad Zakes. “When he started getting sick, the Make-A-Wish Foundation stepped in and put on an event for him in the park.”
A smaller amateur competition was held in the city last year, where the Zakes met Joe Moorman, skate park coordinator, who wanted to honor Ethan during the park’s 20th anniversary celebration.
EZ Rocks – Skate for the Cure will bring together professional skateboarders to compete this weekend in a Pro Super Ramp contest with a $50,000 purse, using the largest skating ramp ever assembled in the state. Other events include a girls-only skate competition, trick and street contests and chances for fans to take photos and have autographs signed by some of their favorite Mega Ramp riders.
Among the world’s best Mega Ramp riders attending the weekend event is Mitchie Brusco, who started skateboarding at the age of three, putting in long hours at the Bellevue Skate Park.
“To be able to come back and do a competition of this magnitude, it’s mind blowing,” Brusco told a Friday crowd of spectators. “We’re going to put on a great show and come back for years to come.”
The Zakes Foundation raises funds for newborn prescreenings for ALD, which Brad and Nancy Zakes are advocating be required by the Washington State Department of Health. The disease can be treated, if caught early, he said, but when the only option left is a stem cell transplant, “The damage to these boys’ brains can’t be reversed.”
The Zakes are encouraged by the strides being made by gene therapy company Bluebird Bio, which is in Phase 3 of clinical trials for a gene replacement therapy that may produce a cure to ALD, said Andy Scharenberg, who serves on its scientific advisory board.
“That treatment arrested the progression of ALD,” he said of the procedure, which involves removing blood stem cells from a patient, correcting the genetic defect and returning them to the patient’s body.
Bluebird Bio is one of EZRocks’ major sponsors, its CEO Nick Leschly having met and befriended Brad Zakes following Ethan’s diagnosis.
“The just immediately latched on to Ethan’s story and really made him a centerpiece around the real life story,” Brad Zakes said.
The Zakes said they’ve been overwhelmed by the support from the skateboarding community, and know Ethan would have loved to see them on the Mega Ramp. Nancy Zakes said if her son were here, he’d want to ride it, too.
“I think I would of (let him) because I know he would have had a blast,” she said.
“There would be no stopping him,” added her husband.
EZ Rocks runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the park, located at 14224 Bel-Red Road. Tickets are $10-$250. Find out more at EZRocks.org.
