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One arrested in shooting
By Carol McLeod
Staff Writer
Randall Boyd, 17, of Howard
Street in Wrens, was arrested by
the Wrens Police Department on
Friday, April 27, and charged with
aggravated assault and possession
of firearm while trying to commit
crimes. The charges stem from the
shooting Thursday, April 26, of
Harry Thomas, 18, of King Street
in Wrens.
According to police reports, when
officers arrived on the scene, Thomas
was lying in a pathway leading from
the 200 block of Howard Street to
the Green Meadows Apartment
Complex. Witnesses reported seeing
Boyd follow Thomas down the
path and shooting Thomas in the right
leg. Thomas was transported to the
Medical College of Georgia in Augusta
where he was treated and was
released Saturday.
According to Wrens Chief of Police
David Hannah, Boyd had been
robbed two days prior to the shooting
incident and was trying to shoot
a person he believed was one of the
robbers. Instead, he shot Thomas.
“He tried to help him up after he
shot him,” Hannah said.
Police would not identify the man
Boyd wanted to shoot.
“Boyd turned himself in the next
day (Friday),” Hannah said. “He
walked into the station and turned
himself in to me. I was here.”
Hannah said the reported amount
taken by the robbers was $300. He
would not identify the other person
wanted in that incident.
“He (Boyd) had a lot of bruises
on this face and (we) heard a lot of
people talking about (the robbery).”
Hannah said the weapon used in
the shooting was a .380 automatic.
The investigation into the robbery is
ongoing, he said.
Relay For
Life kicks
off Friday
By Carol McLeod
Staff Writer
In its 13th year, the Jefferson
County Relay for Life is expected to
continue the local Relay tradition and
raise in excess of $100,000 for the
cause, which includes raising funds
to help find a cure for cancer.
“Everything is going really good,”
said Vickie McDonald, co-chair of the
Jefferson County Relay.
McDonald said there are 16 teams
this year. Some of those are new
teams and some are teams that have
been active in the past.
“I believe it is more than we’ve
had in the past,” she said. “I know
we have more corporate sponsors
than we’ve had in the past.”
For McDonald, who is working on
the Relay for a sixth year, the highlight
of the event is the Survivors Lap.
This event kicks off the Relay as those
who have survived their battle with
cancer make their way around the
walking track for one lap.
“It shows we’re slowly winning
the fight,” McDonald said. “Statistics
show us that last year we had more
survivors than before.
“I lost my mother to cancer and my
father got really sick. They’re thinking
that he probably had cancer. They
were trying to get him well enough to
do a biopsy.”
“Right after my father passed
away, my sister was diagnosed (with
cancer). And it made a real impact on
me. My rally is to try to keep everyone
well so no one will have to fight
this any more. Maybe one day there
will be a cure.”
Virginia Garrett, survivorship
chairperson, said a reception for survivors
will be held at 5 p.m., prior
to the beginning of the Relay. The
reception will be held at the Relay
site, which is at the walking track by
Wrens Middle School.
“I’m a survivor,” Garrett said.
“1996 was the first time I walked in
the Relay. I wasn’t real active because
that was a week after my surgery.”
She first served as the survivorship
chairperson in 2005, she said,
and has held that position since. She
said team members put the reception
together and various members of the
community furnish the food.
The theme of this year’s Relay is a
Hollywood theme, “Roll out the red
carpet for a cure.”
“The teams have picked a movie
as their theme for their campsite,”
Garrett said, adding there will be
a lot of entertainment and after the
luminary service, there will be a red
carpet event.
Garrett and Rev. Roy White will
act as emcees. People from the teams
will dress up as characters from their
movie and be interviewed. This segment
of the event includes an awards
show.
“We’ll have a panel of judges
who will pick the best movie (best
campsite), the best actor, actress and
so on,” Garrett said.
Garrett said there are a little more
than 300 survivors in the community
and about 120 have already pre-registered.
Fund raising will continue
throughout the Relay, she said.
“The Relay for Life represents
hope that those lost to
cancer will never be forgotten;
that those who face cancer
will be supported and win their
fight; and that one day cancer
will be eliminated,” McDonald
said. She said working on
the Relay fills a little bit of
that void she feels having lost
loved ones to cancer.
“And I have children and I
don’t want them to face what
I did losing my mother and I
don’t want to lose them,” she
said.
McDonald’s co-chair, Chris
Dube, also has a personal
story behind his involvement.
His 7-year-old son C.J. was
diagnosed with leukemia in
February of 2004. Besides
serving the co-chair for the
first time, Dube has been team
captain of C.J.’s Animals for
three years.
“The team was named in
honor of my son,” he said,
adding the team of 35 is made
up of friends and family.
C.J.’s cancer is currently in
remission, according to Dube
who said C.J. is scheduled
to end his treatment in July.
“Then they’ll consider him
cured,” Dube said.
“This year, alone, we’re at
$2,600,” he said of his team’s
fundraising efforts. “We’re
encouraging everyone to come
out on Friday and Saturday to
honor the survivors and to
remember those that have lost
their fight.”
Dube said it is his son’s diagnosis
that motivates him to
get involved in the Jefferson
County Relay. Dube and his
wife, Kelley, have two other
sons, Matthew, who is 5, and
Timothy, who is 8 months.
“There will be entertainment,”
Dube said. “Good
entertainment with different
performers. There are a lot of
food choices this year. A lot of
the teams will be selling food.
So it will be a great place to
have dinner on Friday night.”
Asked what he would like
to say to the community about
the Relay, Dube said he would
encourage everyone, whether
they are regular supporters or
have never supported the Relay,
to attend the event.
“I would ask folks to come
out and visit with us and
support the relay teams so
they can assist the American
Cancer Society in defeating
cancer,” Dube said. “As far
as folks coming out, they can
hug a survivor, purchase food,
or just stand and clap for the
Survivors Lap, there are many
ways to participate in the event
and they're all just as important.”
We're Here
People fighting cancer
and those who can help
By Faye Ellison
Staff Writer
“I’m here.”
Those are probably some of the most
victorious words that could pass through
the lips of a cancer survivor.
After surviving some of the darkest days of her
life, Jefferson Hospital's own Wellness Director
Donna Rogers understands just how powerful those
words are.
A simple doctor's visit for a sore throat changed
her life forever.
After her doctor found she had stage 4 throat cancer,
her schedule became filled with difficult trips to
Augusta for operations, chemotherapy and radiation,
trips that tired her to no end.
After sharing her experience with coworkers, Jefferson
Hospital's administrators saw the need to offer
the citizens of rural Jefferson County chemotherapy
and letting them know, “We’re here.”
Discovery
“I really had no symptoms,” Rogers said. “I had a
sore throat that I treated, myself, for a week. I thought
I had tonsillitis. I went to a specialist in Augusta and
they found I had stage 4 cancer.”
When she heard the diagnosis, Rogers said a state
of shock that set in. She had thought it was something
a little medicine could cure. She was not ready to hear
the word 'cancer.'
“When I was diagnosed, I was devastated,” Rogers
said. “It was such a shock. It has been such an
exhausting journey from there. Everything just kind
of hits you at once.
“This new information just floods your head and at
the time the prognosis was not good. I was just overwhelmed.
I thought I almost can’t handle this. Cancer
just pushes you to the limit and keeps you there for
months. It stresses you as much as it can.”
Not just fair-weather friends
Though Rogers' surgery and chemotherapy and radiation
treatments often left her tired and nauseated,
the support system she found in her family, friends and
coworkers lifted her spirits and her mind set about the
disease higher than any medicine ever could.
“I was blessed with a brother, sisters, children, coworkers
and so many friends,” Rogers said thankfully.
“I don’t know what I would have done without
them.
“If you have a support system
and faith then half of the
battle is won. Anytime I was at
the doctor’s office or in a room
by myself, I knew that just
outside that door I had family
and/or friends there with me. It
is like I had cheerleaders.”
The other part of the battle
against Roger’s cancer was
the treatments that would
have lifelong effects on her
body. Rogers had radiation
treatments every day for 33
treatments. Then she suffered
through five rounds of chemotherapy.
Because of the toll it took on
Rogers’ body, friends, family
and co-workers set up a schedule
to take her back and forth to
Augusta for her treatments.
“I am so blessed to live in a
community like this. It is such
a help to have so many friends
in the medical field who helped
me to decipher medical terminology.
The more you educate
yourself, the easier the journey
is.”
Jefferson Hospital joins
the fight
It was those difficult two
hours spent on the road, as
Rogers was transported back
and forth each day for chemotherapy
and radiation treatments
that inspired former
Jefferson Hospital Director
and CEO Rita Culvern.
“When cancer strikes in
your family it really makes
you understand the devastation
of the disease,” Culvern
said. “When Donna, who is a
part of our work family, was diagnosed,
she had to go through
very aggressive rounds of chemotherapy
and radiation.”
Many of Culvern’s employees
gave up their off time
to take Rogers to Augusta to
receive her treatments.
“It means a lot to somebody
that doesn’t have a lot of family
in town,” Culvern said.
During one of the trips,
Culvern said Rogers passed
out.
“Thank God the employee
taking her was an RN,” Culvern
said. “She passed out
in the car and the RN was
prepared to do CPR. That just
really touched my heart. How
heart-wrenching this must
be on someone to drive 50
minutes back and forth each
day. I wondered how I could
make it better. I really began
to think.”
Since that day last year,
Culvern and other hospital
staff have worked and trained
to make the battle a little easier
on cancer patients in Jefferson
County. The hospital now offers
chemotherapy treatments
on their grounds.
“We now have two oncologists
that come twice a month
and can come as often as
once a week,” Culvern said.
“We have six nurses that have
received certified training to
administer chemotherapy. We
have invested thousands and
thousands of dollars to prepare
to offer chemotherapy.
The pharmacist has also been
certified.”
Jefferson Hospital began
offering chemotherapy in
November 2006.
“I feel like it will enhance
the scope of care in our community
for our people,” Culvern
said. “Donna struggled
through this and had strong
friends and co-workers that
did help her so willingly. That
really makes you think of the
needs of the community.”
The news of the hospital
now offering chemotherapy
inspires Rogers for others who
will fight her same battle.
“It’s wonderful being able
to get treatment here,” she
said. “We are fortunate enough
to have a hospital of this caliber
in our community. In bigger
cities you have to fight the
traffic and find a parking place.
Some days you don’t even feel
like getting out of bed, much
less traveling to another city
to receive your treatment and
it is wonderful to have this
right here. Now that part will
be taken care of.”
Aftermath
Having a war against a
deadly disease play out through
Rogers’ immune system took
its toll on Rogers' body, but
not her faith or
spirit.
“I’m here
and I am so
glad because
I wasn’t supposed
to be,”
Rogers exclaimed.
“It
was hard to
deal with because
one day
you’re healthy
and the next
you're not.”
Rogers was
out of work at
the Wellness
Center for six
months before
returning only
part-time. Now
she is back fulltime.
“Everybody
pitched in to
help do my job while I was
gone,” Rogers said. “I was
fortunate to have a job to
come back to. When you treat
cancer, you can’t comprehend
the financial aspects.”
When Rogers finished her
chemotherapy and radiation
treatments, it had damaged
some of her body. The radiation
damaged her saliva
glands, so now she has trouble
eating because it is hard
to chew and swallow without
much saliva.
“I have day to day pain,”
Rogers said. “But it is not unbearable.
My life has changed
and I can’t do what I used to
do. I am limited on my right
side. There are days when I am
not sure I can make it at work,
but I’m here.”
Right now Rogers is taking
one day at a time while
counting her blessings along
the way.
“Your life is just so much
more wonderful than before,”
she said with a smile on her
face. “When I wake up in
the mornings, I am glad to
be awake. For some reason,
God has chosen to leave me
here for a while. I am thankful
and I am loving every minute
of it.”
Looking
back over the
past months and
what Rogers
has struggled
through, she
said she knows
she needed
support and
looks forward
to walking with
other survivors
this Friday during
the American
Cancer Society's
Relay for Life in
Wrens. She was
not able to be
there last year
because of her
ordeal.
“I found out
that cancer does
not have to be a
death sentence,”
she said. “With faith, hope,
prayer and a lot of support
you can survive it. Be sure
to support the Relay because
early detection and research is
our cure.”
Rogers also added that after
seeing what a kind word,
card or smile could do for
her spirits during her trying
time, she reminds others to
understand the importance
of the little things they do for
cancer patients.
“When you’re living your
life one hour at a time, it
means so much,” Rogers
said. “Send a card, leave a
note or say a prayer, it means
so much while going through
the exhausting battle.”
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