American Fork concert to help send Utah teen to China clinic

AMERICAN FORK — High school seniors in Utah are graduating this month, and some will take trips to far-off places to celebrate. Travis Ashton is graduating from American Fork High School next week and is headed to China but to celebrate in a different way.

Ashton will travel there with his parents to receive stem cell treatments for a brain injury he suffered seven years ago, and some of Travis' classmates have planned a concert in his behalf to raise money for the trip.

The multiband concert will be today from 5 to 10 p.m. at the American Fork Outdoor Amphitheater, 851 E. 700 North, featuring seven local high school bands, some with CDs out. Admission is $5 at the door.

Classmate Sean Sagers helped coordinate the event.

"We were putting on this concert and thought we'd do it for a cause," Sagers said. Two bands from American Fork High School, four from Lone Peak High and one from Pleasant Grove High will perform.

"I know most of the kids in these bands," Sagers said. "I just called and explained what we wanted to do, and they were ready. They'll give all the proceeds to the family."

Travis' mother Missy Ashton said she's flattered these kids are making this effort.

"These high school kids took it upon themselves to organize the whole thing," Missy Ashton said. "They got the equipment, the facility, did the advertising — it's just amazing."

Jordan Boyd is a one of Travis Ashton's friends and thought of him first when planning the concert.

"When we decided to do a benefit he was the first person to come into my head as a local cause," Boyd said. "He's a really smart kid. He just wants to communicate more effectively."

Travis Ashton, who turns 18 in July, suffered a debilitating brain injury in a car accident when he was 11 years old. At first he wasn't expected to live, and, even if he did, he was expected to be in a vegetative state.

"When he woke up out of the coma he could do less than a newborn," Missy Ashton said. "He had to relearn everything. It hasn't come back all at once — just a little progress here and there."

His mother pointed out, though, that he no longer has a feeding tube or cane or a shunt in his head that doctors told her would be there for life.

"He's made remarkable progress," Ashton said. "He tends to heal quickly so he's a good candidate for this therapy."