Carnival & Fair News

Talley Amusements, The Malro Fighters Foundation, and the Ohio State Fair have scheduled the third annual Malro Family Fair Day for August 3rd at 11 a.m at the fair.

The foundation was created by Taylor Talley, daughter of Talley Amusement owners Tom and Mary Talley. Taylor was only 10 when she was diagnosed with intestinal malrotation, a condition the community casually refers to as malro. Patients with this rare condition are born with their intestines in the wrong place. “The condition is too rare to be noticed but too common to be ignored,” Taylor attests. “This chronic illness is often overlooked or misdiagnosed, which is how it was dealt with my whole life.”

After Taylor had gut malrotation correction surgery in 2022, she had the idea to start the foundation while still in the hospital. “Because I'm my mother's daughter, and when either of us put our minds to something, we do it.  I felt like Talley Amusements and the carnival platform would be a terrific opportunity to raise awareness for the foundation, the information it can provide, and as a fundraising and events platform. It's a great way to give back,” she explains.

The organization's name was an outgrowth of a nickname given to Taylor by her surgeon, due to her involvement in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She formed the Malro Fighters Foundation along with board members Dr. Kareem Abu-Elmagd and Dr. Guiseppe D'Amico in 2023, making good use of the moniker.

Taylor's goal with the foundation is to provide medical grants for people who need help with bills and financial support to obtain surgeries anywhere in the world. The foundation also supports scholarship opportunities because those with chronic illnesses often spend a great deal on medical expenses and are unable to go to college without financial assistance.

Malro Family Fair Day at the Ohio State Fair is a simple way to present information and foster a sense of community among those with intestinal malrotation. Having dealt with the symptoms of intestinal malrotation throughout her adolescence and early adulthood, and successfully undergone an experimental procedure known as gut malrotation correction at the Cleveland Clinic, Taylor is committed to growing the foundation. Her surgery transformed her quality of life and set her on her path to raise awareness of the condition so she can help others like her. She feels that the carnival and fair are the right venues to do so.

“I was born into the carnival business, and I now own a few carnival rides myself as TNT Amusements, as well as being a part of Talley Amusements. Talley is a family business, and my role is handling all their social media and marketing, including Instagram and Facebook accounts, news media, and major state fair information, as well as serving as the spokesperson about the fairs we work with. In my younger 20s I managed the Talley Amusement food concessions,” Taylor reports.  

As committed as she is to the family business, Taylor is even more committed to supporting and growing The Malro Fighters Foundation. The organization has three main goals: to raise awareness, support The Malro Fighters community, and promote medical advances and research including promoting actionable awareness on a national level.

The Malro Family Fair Day at the Ohio State Fair, now in its third year, is an intrinsic part of achieving that awareness and support.  “We are focused on the Ohio State Fair in part because I had my own successful surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. But we are adding new venues over time. In fact, this year we will be adding an event at the State Fair of Louisiana in November,” she says.  

In addition, 40 states have now issued proclamations establishing January 15th as a day of awareness for intestinal malrotation.

“We are slowly adding new venues for these events supported by Talley Amusements, and we are also looking to involve other carnival companies nationwide. My ultimate goal is to get other companies attached to it with incentives,” she notes. “We would love for the foundation to be the nationwide nonprofit for the carnival industry as a whole.”

In the meantime, the organization is growing their social media platform and fundraising, starting with their Facebook page. They are set to launch their website later this summer.

“Since we started last year, we've grown quite a bit for being so new. My goal is for anyone who has an intestinal issue to be able to find us, come to us for answers, and become educated on the disease,” Taylor stresses.

The foundation also provides funding resources for those who are suffering or have medical needs beyond what their insurance can provide. Last year, The Malro Fighters provided a medical grant to a South African patient to assist with her surgery. This year it awarded a scholarship to a patient to help her fund her nursing degree, a degree she decided to obtain because of her years of treatment as a patient.

The Ohio State Fair event will function both to raise further awareness about malro and the foundation, while also serving as a “community event and social gathering,” Taylor relates.

“We will have speakers including the possibility of surgeons from the Cleveland Clinic and researchers from the University of Oklahoma who have created their own research collaborative focused solely on intestinal malrotation. The event also provides a way for Malro Fighters to meet others within their community to exchange stories and offer support.” She adds that “We will also be giving free ride wristbands for all those who attend, and there will be prize giveaways. We're always looking for ways to give back to The Malro Fighters community.”

Anyone who is interested in helping the Malro Fighters Foundation continue to provide support to the intestinal malrotation community is invited to make a donation via the Foundation's official official PayPal.

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