With the roar of thunderous engines, trucks and tractors pulled more than weight for a former South Buffalo girl.

Their drivers donated money and time in support of Taylor Roles, 12, who is living with a rare form of epilepsy.

A few hundred people participated in the township fire department’s field in mid-October for the third annual benefit tractor pull.

Event organizer Erin Pflueger said donations continued to pour in last week.

The total amount raised will be revealed at a check presentation at the fire station at 6 p.m. on Nov. 13.

Drivers came not only from across the state but also from West Virginia, Ohio and Virginia, while spectators arrived from as far as Texas and Florida.

The Oct. 16 event was delayed for a few hours because of heavy rains. Crews worked quickly on the track to make sure it was competition-ready when things cleared up around noon.

“We’re usually well into our day by then,” Pflueger said. “It has definitely affected turnout, but it has not affected anybody’s spirit.

“My phone was ringing nonstop (with people) asking if we were going to cancel. We know the kind of people who show up to these events and the kind of people in this area and their passion for helping people. We knew they would show up no matter what, and they made it an amazing day.”

Taylor has a rare form of epilepsy known as febrile infection related epilepsy, or FIRES. It’s so rare that it affects about one in 1 million children, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.

On July 23, Taylor developed a fever. The next day, she began having seizures and was taken by ambulance to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The next day, she was put in a medically induced coma.

Taylor underwent two brain operations while she was in a coma. She was on palliative care, and doctors began preparing her family for the worst scenarios.

The benefit pull marked one year since Taylor woke up from her coma.

Her family moved a few months ago from South Buffalo to Aspinwall to be closer to Children’s Hospital.

“She’s come a long way,” said Taylor’s mother, Kimberly Roles. “They told us a year ago she wouldn’t wake up, and now she’s running and doing cartwheels. She’s doing a lot of medicine, but she’s fighting through it and the doctors are still all amazed at her recovery.

“It’s been tough. A 100-percent healthy kid is now learning how to walk again, learning how to eat again. She is so determined that she wasn’t going to ever stop at not being herself again. She’s come leaps and bounds.”

She said the family regularly starts their day with “Hakuna Matata,” a song by Elton John and Tim Rice for Disney’s “The Lion King.”

Roles said it gets everyone feeling positive.

There were gift baskets, 50/50 raffle and clothing sales at the pull to help benefit the family.

“It’s such a community event,” Roles said. “The turnout has been amazing, and the support has been wonderful.”

The family plans to put the money into a trust fund to cover Taylor’s future medical expenses.

Roles said her medical costs are covered by the state until she turns 18.

“Pennsylvania’s pretty amazing when it comes to underage children that need medical care,” the mother said.

Bryan Boarts of the South Buffalo Pullers was on the team that maintained the 300-foot, red clay track.

“When you get extreme weather like we did, you have no control as to how wet the track gets,” he said. “Before the storms rolled in, we rolled the track to minimize how much water was able to penetrate it. We used a vibrating roller to seal the top of the track off.

”It’s no different than they do for highway construction. You want to build a track that takes power, and you want to be able to get traction. In order to build a power track, you want to make the ground the right consistency to get that traction.”

Boarts said trucks and tractors were really put to the test with some having difficulty gaining traction, particularly those with stock or all-season tires.

Jim Taylor, 65, of Butler brought his stock semi truck to the event. Stock means the truck has no customized parts. He said it was his first time pulling in the township in 20 years.

“Tonight was to benefit a little girl,” Taylor said. “It feels real good (to come back). Nothing’s been done to my truck. I drive it every day to work. I’ve been pulling ever since I’ve been driving, so a long time. The fire department here is fantastic. They put a lot of work into it.”

The inaugural truck pull event in 2019 netted a little less than $30,000 for the family of Ella Conroy, a young township girl battling cancer.

Last year’s event, which was in memory of the late Kevin Haas, raised about $46,000 for his daughter, Mackenzie. Haas, a friend of the fire department and the one who spearheaded the return of tractor pulls, died in May.

In 2019, Taylor joined her youth cheerleading squad to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the fire department’s first benefit tractor pull.

Taylor is now a seventh grader in the Fox Chapel Area School District.

Nurse Jacqueline Cunningham of Preferred Home Health Care assists Taylor to, from and during school.

“It’s a true blessing to watch this little miracle improve each day,” Cunningham said. “I always tell (her) mom she never ceases to amaze me. It’s a challenge because of her medical condition, but there’s so much love in this family and so many people that surround her as a support system that I feel blessed. I’m there in case she needs emergency treatment for seizures, and I also give her her medications. She’s definitely endeavored to persevere.”

Taylor sipped on hot chocolate and watched the pulls with friends and family. She also met a new friend, Jolene the cow, at the event’s petting zoo.

She had a message for the fire department and people who attended.

“Thank you so much for doing this for me,” she said.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)