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Images from fund-raising dinner and silent auction
Hurricane volunteer returns to battle for life
When Donnie McCrary saw news coverage of hurricane victims fighting for their lives he knew he had to help. By the time he returned home from the devastated Gulf coast, it would be McCrary in a cruel twist of irony who would be fighting for his life.
Donnie McCrary with his two daughters, Hailie (left) and Ashlie.
Photo by Linda Schieber.
Among the initial waves of volunteers who descended on Louisiana and Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, McCrary, who works in the Printery House press room, journeyed south with single-minded determination. Diving head-first into the clean-up work, he shook off a painful fever blister on his lower lip.
Three surgeries, nine weeks of chemotherapy and seven weeks of radiation treatment later, McCrary, with a tracheotomy still in place, attended a fund-raising dinner and silent auction on his behalf April 29 at the American Legion Hall in Conception Jct., Mo.
The event, which was attended by more than 600 people, raised more than $17,000 toward McCrary’s substantial medical bills. In attendance was Jeff Green of Sacramento, Calif., a fellow Red Cross volunteer who befriended McCrary during their two week stint in Louisiana.
Jeff Green (left) and Donnie McCrary during their two-week stint as
hurricane relief workers.
Green has kept a web site, donniemccrary.blogspot.com, where he posts updates on his friend’s battle with an especially aggressive form of cancer. The following account is from a blog entry for May 23:
I first met Donnie in Lake Charles, La. The first night we ran some errands and did laundry (he not only did his but that of three others who had traveled with him). I could tell immediately that he was going to be a special kind of person. During the evening I noticed a fever blister and I said, “Man that looks like it really must hurt.” He said it did and that it wouldn’t go away. RED FLAG!
We stayed in Lake Charles for another 5 days until Hurricane Rita decided to turn north toward Louisiana. We evacuated and went north to a place called DeRidder, La. I said earlier that I could tell Donnie was a special person and this is where he proved me right. There wasn’t anything he would not do, but most of all he was everyone’s protector. When he heard that some of the people who had traveled with him from Missouri were at a shelter that had been damaged during Rita, no one could stop him from making sure they were safe. When he walked past a room and heard a very belligerent supervisor screaming at other volunteers he put an immediate stop to it. He actually told the supervisor she needed to leave – she did. No one was going to be mistreated while he was around.
By the end of our two weeks together the fever blister had caused his lip to swell significantly and actually affected his speech. We made him go to the doctor before leaving Louisiana. The doctor said he should see his regular physician as soon as he got back to Missouri. Donnie suspected he had cancer and his doctor confirmed it.
I got a call about 10 days after he got back to Missouri and he gave me the news. He was very optimistic and said that the nine weeks of chemo and seven weeks of radiation were going to “git-er-done.” (an expression we picked up from Larry the Cable Guy while in Louisiana). After the second or third week of radiation he wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. We tried to talk weekly through the treatments, but when I didn’t hear from him right after the radiation was finished, I thought something must be up. The cancer had come back with a vengeance and he didn’t want to tell me. He had surgery around the 1st of April and I got to go back and surprise him at a benefit that his community put on for him around the end of April. In his town of 200 there were 600 people that came to the benefit (around 200 -300 others donated to his silent auction). Are you starting to get a picture of what he is like and how he touches others?
THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IS QUITE GRAPHIC, SO READ CAUTIOUSLY: It’s been 25 or so weeks since he’s had food in his mouth and 21 weeks since he’s had water. The first surgery was 20 hours and he’s had two since then. As a result of the surgery, he has a scar from his ear lobe to the corner of his mouth on both sides and from the bottom of his ear lobe to his collarbone. Doctors removed most if not all of the skin and tissue within that area and took half of his jaw, his entire lower lip, and part of his tongue. He has had three skin grafts (two on the outside of his face and one on the inside of his mouth) from various parts of his body and they used veins in his right arm to replace veins in his jaw. His pectoral muscle is now his chin and they made him a lower lip out of skin from his thigh. While Donnie has a big and tender heart, he is also a fighter.
I write this (with Donnie’s permission) for two reasons. First is to tell you what Donnie means to me. Second, if you know someone that chews tobacco – please encourage them to stop.
McCrary is back working half days in the press room. Doctor’s say the future is very uncertain. The cancer will likely return.
Contributions may be made to the Donnie McCrary Benefit, Farmer’s State Bank, 118 W. 1st, Stanberry, MO 64489.
We welcome your comments:
communications@conception.edu
www.conceptionabbey.org
Images from fund-raising dinner and silent auction
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