Survivors’ stories inspire Relay supporters 2016

By Mandy Catoe

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Relay for Life – to most of us it is just one night, but to those with cancer it is one big fight that goes on every single minute of every day.
Lancaster’s 21st Relay for Life begins Friday with a celebration as 200 cancer survivors walk the first lap around the track at Lancaster High School’s Memorial Stadium. Loved ones and supporters will then take over and walk laps nonstop the rest of the night to honor loved ones battling cancer or remember someone who lost the fight.
But that first lap is their lap. Survivors walk silently side-by-side in this annual pilgrimage with the unspoken support that can only come from those fighting the same battle. The track is a circle around 59 team tents, filled with their caregivers championing them on. Around they go, like the hands on a clock, grateful for another minute of time.
More than 500 people began working on this special night last November. They met monthly, formed teams and shared fundraising tips. Lancaster is over halfway toward its goal of $143,000 and should easily exceed it with onsite fundraising.
Lots of people with lots of reasons walk laps in this fight. Out of a thousand possible stories, these three shaped and inspired a circle of support that continues with each Relay:
◆ A little girl’s fight with leukemia 21 years ago inspired a hairdresser to join the fight and rally every single year since.
◆ Parents withhold heartbreaking news during Christmas so their 16-year-old daughter can enjoy the holiday burden-free.
◆ A cancer survivor watches her son take chemo on his 21st birthday.

Child’s fight inspires Crenshaw
 
“I don’t know a soul who has not been touched in some way by cancer. At least once a week, one of my clients will mention someone who was just diagnosed with cancer,” said Debbie Crenshaw, Relay’s corporate sponsorship chair.
Crenshaw, owner of Mane Street Hair Designers, has been a major part of Lancaster’s Relay since it began in 1995.
Her job as a hairdresser keeps her in touch with what’s going on in the lives of her clients, who are more like friends.
Twenty-one years ago she was fixing Joy Hayes’ hair and getting an update on how Hayes’ 6-year-old daughter, Blair, was doing.
“The leukemia has come back,” Hayes told Crenshaw.
Blair was first diagnosed at the age of 2 1/2 with an aggressive form of childhood leukemia. Blair had been battling a lingering case of bronchitis. Hayes took her to the doctor to find out why her little girl wasn’t getting well. Bloodwork revealed her platelets were so low that she was in danger of bleeding to death internally. Blair was rushed from the doctor’s office to the hospital by ambulance.
Chemo and radiation were successful and Blair enjoyed a three-year remission. She was about to turn 6 when the leukemia returned.
Blair Cauthen was the initial inspiration for Crenshaw to work so hard in the fight against cancer. Chemo and a bone marrow transplant resulted in another remission lasting until Blair was 14. Then it was another round of chemo, radiation and a bone marrow transplant.
“She was really, really sick that time,” Hayes said.
“My mom took care of me and was always there, a strong person I could rely on. It was hard on me, but probably worse on her to watch her kid go through that,” Cauthen said.
She graduated with her class from Lancaster High School in 2006, due in large part to her grandmother, Lou Hayes, a high school teacher who homeschooled her when she was too sick to attend school.
“I matured a lot faster than most of my friends. Going through that is more than a lot of people go through in a lifetime,” Cauthen said. “I don’t take anything for granted. You appreciate the small things like going to class every day,” which is something that most of her peers dreaded.
Cauthen earned a master’s degree in sports and entertainment management from the University of South Carolina in 2011. She now works for her alma mater as senior director of premium seating and events. Cauthen, 27, has been in remission for 13 years.
Cauthen and her mom will attend this year’s Relay together. She will also hang out at Crenshaw’s tent and reconnect. Cauthen said she enjoys a special relationship with Crenshaw and has been to every Relay since she was 6. During her elementary and middle school years, she helped Crenshaw sell luminaries and place Relay for Life signs in front of businesses that donated money. And one year Cauthen was the team captain for Crenshaw’s team.
“Debbie is so passionate and such a strong advocate for the fight against cancer,” Cauthen said.
Crenshaw laughed as she recalled her first Relay team back in 1995.
“We were clueless as to what to do, but we knew we wanted to help. We rolled a makeup cart out there and a paraffin wax for hand dips and raised $350,” she said.
Crenshaw’s team this year, Relay Rally Cats, has raised over $10,000. One year, they raised $25,000.

Chemo for his birthday
Dustin Carnes celebrated his 21st birthday with chemo running through his veins in a fight for his life. Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in August 2010, he underwent chemo for seven months.
His mother, Paula Carnes, a cancer survivor herself, rallied behind him.
“My mom was with me the whole way through and sat by my side during hours and hours of chemo,” Dustin said.
Paula said her son seemed perfectly healthy when he was diagnosed.
“He was a rough-and-tumble young man and didn’t look sick at all,” she said. Dustin worked with his father and grandfather in the family plumbing and heating business.
His mother now leads a Relay team of 38 in his honor. She started Team Dustin Carnes the year he was diagnosed. In its fifth year now, the Carnes team is one of the county’s top fundraising teams.
“We’ve been fundraising like crazy,” Paula said. “Kellie Mosley, my co-captain has helped us so much.”
The team’s fundraising goal was $2,000 and it has already exceeded $10,000.
The team will hold a birthday party at their tent to celebrate Dustin Carnes’ fifth cancer-free birthday.

Cancer unhappy Christmas surprise
Melonie Lyles just celebrated her 40th birthday.
She was faced with the battle of her life at 16 when she discovered two knots on her neck while in class at school just before the Christmas break.
A trip to the doctor for a biopsy left her parents with the hard news that their youngest daughter had Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Her mom, Janice Watts, said she and Melonie’s dad, Jim, withheld the information until after Christmas Day so Melonie could enjoy the holiday.
“Watching her open presents was excruciating. She looked like the picture of health. It was breaking our hearts,” Janice said. “Her dad and I were petrified.”
Melonie, a cheerleader for the Bruins, went through six months of chemo and radiation and lost her hair at an age when girls spend hours in front of a mirror styling their hair. She opted for sporty hats and bandanas instead of a wig.
She graduated from Lancaster High School in 1994 and went to nursing school, inspired by the compassion she found during her treatment. Melonie now works at Travelers in Charlotte as an insurance medical case manager.
“I hate it happened, but it made me who I am,” she said.
Melonie has been married for 14 years to Adam Lyles and has two active daughters, Averi and Abigail, who are 11 and 12.
“Relay for Life was very emotional the first time I attended because I was still in active treatment. I was a survivor, a fighting survivor,” she said.
“Overall it’s fun, but then (there’s) the silence of the survivors’ lap and the luminaries for those who have not won the battle. I feel so grateful to be alive,” Melonie said.
“Once in the Relay family, always in the Relay family,” she said.
Local fundraising doubles
“Lancaster has an excellent committee of very good people with top-notch volunteers,” Relay for Life community manager Kaleb Keefe said. “They are ahead of their goal.”
At the end of March 2015, Lancaster had raised $31,000. By the end of March this year, the total was $67,000, Keefe said.
The original Relay began in 1985 in Tacoma, Wash. Dr. Gordon Klatt, a colorectal surgeon, walked laps on a track, asking friends to pay $25 to walk with him for 30 minutes. In 24 hours, he had raised $27,000.
Each Relay takes on the unique qualities of its community, but they all have a survivors’ meal, a survivors’ lap, an opening lap with all participants taking a lap around the track, a luminary ceremony, a closing ceremony and a “fight back” ceremony.
Funds raised go to research, prevention groups, community and patient support groups, detection and treatment programs, fundraising and contraction of Hope Lodges.
Relay, the largest fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, is held in over 5,000 communities in the United Sates and around the world.
Gates at the Lancaster Relay will open at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Heath Springs tips its hat to retiring clerk Thee Baker

Thee Baker embraces the moment

Mandy Catoe
mcatoe@thelancasternews.com

More than 50 Heath Springs residents and town officials took time Tuesday to thank retiring town clerk Thee Baker for 15 years of service and friendship.
Baker, 62, a self-described introvert and Ohio native, did not think the position was a good fit for her when she started out in 1998, but it was a job she grew to love.
"I got the job through Phillips Staffing and didn't think I wanted to do this for long," Baker said Tuesday afternoon just before the retirement party. "I'm shy and I hated answering the phone.
"I got over that," she said, laughing.
So much so that she sometimes called elderly residents to remind them to pay their water bill.
"There is a great bunch of people here in Heath Springs," Baker said, scanning the smiling faces at the train depot during her drop-in.
Resisting the hoopla, Baker said, "I'd rather this just be a quiet thing and not a big to-do."
But the town and her successor, Donna Langley, made sure to send Baker off with a catered party, complete with appetizers and a cake.
Grateful residents dropped by to celebrate her service, give her a hug, and wish her a happy retirement. They brought gifts, lingered, shared memories and asked for assurance that she would stay in touch.
Baker served 15 years in two stints, beginning in 1998. After three years, she took five years off to care for her mother.
Baker credits Mayor Ann Taylor with solid training two decades ago.
"I've enjoyed working with her, and it's been nice only having one mayor to work for," she said. "She taught me everything I know."

Langley, Catoe, Baker

Mayor Taylor and Baker

Taylor quipped, "Isn't that terrible? She did a good job on her own, and I will miss her very much. Everybody is going to miss that smiling face when they come in the office."
Town Administrator Tony Starnes said he could run any situation by Baker and she could fill him in with the details about homes and who lived there. He said she knew everyone's problems because they would come in to talk to her.
"She knows everybody and pretty much everything," said Starnes.
Resident Barbara Massey handed Baker a greeting card and a small green plant.
"These are clippings from my plants at home, and I thought you would enjoy it," Massey said, smiling.
Baker immediately turned the greeting card over as if looking for something. She found it.
"You always put stickers on your water-bill payment," Baker said as she hugged Massey.
Council member Iva Drakeford said she will miss Baker very much.
"I would not have missed this," Drakeford said.

Heath Springs maintenance official Will Catoe stopped in with his wife, Joe Ann. Pizzeria owner Billy Myers and his wife, Linda, came in for a few minutes.

To Baker's surprise, her husband, Gene, showed up for the festivities. He took off work to be there. And right behind him were her sisters, Connie Miller from North Carolina and Gaylean Sawyer from Pennslyvania.

Miller, Sawyer, Baker, Gene Baker

Councilman Mark Bridges said the town is happy for Baker, but sad for the citizens.
"We will miss Thee for sure," Bridges said.
Catherine Huggins said she will miss Baker's "lovely smile."
Hugh McSweaney, who moved to Heath Springs from Belize about five years ago, said Baker was his "go to" person as he became accustomed to living here.
"Whenever I had a question and needed an answer, I would go to her," McSweaney said.
Baker is looking forward to learning to quilt, spending time with her flowers and enjoying some "me time." The first thing on her agenda is a week at the beach with her sisters. 

Landscaping fix
The council took action on its recent landscaping woes with a price tag of $2,700.
The shrubs around town hall became diseased and had to be removed. Poison ivy was found growing in the shrubs and also was removed. The money will pay for 40 new shrubs, new dirt to fill the holes, and pine straw. The crepe myrtles were healthy and will remain.


Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN orcontact her at (803) 283-1152.

Cavalry is Coming

Businesses, residents join to help the Burgesses

Mandy Catoe
mcatoe@thelancasternews.com

Cavalry leaders surround Burgess Family

When a neighbor is in need, the Buford community rallies.
R.L. Parham, owner of Buford Flea and Farmer’s Market, felt compelled to help the family of Coleen Burgess, who died April 6 when a falling tree crushed her home.
Over the past few days, he has enlisted more than a dozen local businesses and scores of volunteers to help stage a community fundraiser next Saturday. The plan is sort of a combination street festival and garage sale, with all proceeds going to the family.
“I feel good about the progress and response so far,” Parham said Friday morning. “Everyone has stood at the plate and done their part and it all makes a difference, from the huge donations to the kid who drops a quarter in the donation jar.”
Parham doesn’t want any pats on the back for sparking the community response.
“All I did was kick the ball to one of my teammates,” he said.
The outpouring from the community makes one thing very clear. Everyone who knew Coleen Burgess loved her.
Cliff West, owner of Buford Little General, said the Burgess family has done business with him for years.
“When Mrs. Burgess was working at the hospital in Monroe, she would stop by every morning to get a biscuit and get gas,” West said. “She was a good woman. I never heard one bad thing about her.”
West is donating all the hot dog buns for the event.
Some who did not know her personally have joined in because they felt it was the right thing to do.
One Lancaster business owner, not wanting to be named, has paid for the crane that will remove the tree from the house.
“I’m blessed,” he said. “And I have a friend who has a crane and we are working together to remove that tree from the home Saturday. All I can say is ‘Glory be to God.’”
A small group met at the Burgess family home Thursday, exactly one week after the tragedy, in a show of support.
“It’s been chaos since last Thursday,” said Kevin Burgess, the son who lives next door with his wife, Tammy, and two sons.
“I just want it all cleaned up and try to move on with life. That’s what mom would want us to do.”
One supporter after another hugged him tightly.
He came a little undone when their next-door neighbor, Angie Lloyd, embraced him.

Lloyd embraces Kevin

Lloyd, a nurse, has been helping Coleen’s husband, Jim, with his medication.
As she spoke about Coleen, her eyes filled with tears.
“She was a hard-working woman and the rock of their family,” Lloyd said. “She was a good neighbor and a very good friend.”
Jim Burgess said he feels blessed with all the help and he is “doing about as well as can be expected.”

‘Another angel’
Last Sunday, one of Coleen Burgess’ out-of-town sons, Bernie Durkee, stopped by Parham’s store for some boiled peanuts about closing time.
Durkee told Parham he had lived in Alaska for 20 years, and they don’t have boiled peanuts there. “I just flew in,” Durkee said. “That was my mom that got killed by the tree.”
Parham didn’t know how to react. He started to cry.
“All I could say is, ‘Man, I’m sorry.’”
Parham couldn’t stop thinking about the family. He had trouble sleeping.
“It was on my mind all day Sunday and Monday,” he said.
Tuesday afternoon, he drove to the Burgess home, about a mile from his store. He had a message for them.
“Don’t worry. The cavalry is on its way,” he proclaimed to Jim and Kevin Burgess.
“God put it in my heart and said, ‘R.L. I need another angel,’” Parham recalled this week, his eyes filling with tears.
He, like many others involved in the upcoming benefit, want no credit for their efforts. He said he is just following God’s instructions.
Then he added matter-of-factly, “All I did was get the ball rolling, and it has taken on a life of its own.”
He said Buford is a close community that comes together.
“It’s not just talk out here,” he said.
John Mangum of Papa’s Christmas Tree Farm in Kershaw echoed that sentiment. He is donating a huge cooker, money and his time.
“This was a very tragic thing that happened to the family,” Mangum said. “As a community, it’s our responsibility to help each other out.
“It’s a great thing that R.L. is doing,” he said.

Organizing the effort

R.L.Parham

Parham has participated in many fundraising events in the past decade with his concession truck, but this is the first one he has ever planned. He started scribbling notes, names and numbers on a small piece of scrap paper Tuesday.
Holding the paper up, he said: “It all started with this, but I ran out of room.”
Wednesday morning, he walked next door to the Dollar General and bought a spiral notebook.
Parham, 59, better known as PawPaw, has lived in Charlesboro for 32 years. He drives a school bus in the Buford area.
The event will kick off bright and early Saturday morning, April 22, at 7 o’clock when the flea market opens. He is not charging a fee for the tables.
“I just ask they let their hearts be their guide and make a donation to the Burgess Family Benefit,” Parham said. “Bring your items and set up. The tables are free.”
Music will begin at 10 a.m. with the band Sapphire. DJ Roach will provide entertainment when the musicians take a break. Other bands have been invited.
Parham is encouraging people to donate old TVs, lawnmowers, furniture or anything they no longer use. These will be sold during the music intermissions. All money will go to the Burgess family.
Hot dog and barbecue plates with slaw, baked beans and potato chips will be sold for $5 and $8 respectively. All the food is donated. Every penny will go to the benefit fund.
Parham is soliciting volunteers and churches to serve the food. He and his friends are making the barbecue and grilling the hot dogs.
“We just need someone to fix the plates,” he said.
So far, he has raised more than $300 from donations. A huge white cup sits on his counter with “Burgess Family Benefit” written in black ink. A few dollars have already been dropped in.
Parham shared some details about the event. The sheriff’s department will direct traffic. The Buford Volunteer Fire Department plans to collect donations at the intersection of Rocky River Road and S.C. 9 during the day.
Billy Morris, Buford Volunteer Fire Department chief, said he and his crew will do whatever is needed the day of the event. He hopes a couple of other fire departments will join them in the effort.
“I can’t imagine how it feels to lose everything they ever owned and worked for,” Morris said, shaking his head. “And to know how their mom died and to have to look at that tree every day.”
Thursday evening, the core group of the cavalry circled around Jim Burgess, Kevin, and Kevin’s son Noah. Kevin’s wife, Tammy, could not get off work, and their son Patrick remained inside their home. The moment was too hard.
Ryan Vincent of Ryan’s Tree Service said the family contacted him for an estimate.
“When I first got the call, I gave them a quote for the insurance company,” Vincent said. “When I found out they didn’t have any, I wanted to help them anyway.”
Vincent will be clearing the yard for the crane and also taking down a huge oak tree that was next to the one that fell. Its root system was compromised when the other tree uprooted.
Buford resident Danny Flynn is bush-hogging the lot behind Parham’s business to expand the lot for the event.
Buford Sports Cafe has agreed to allow overflow parking behind the Buford Meat Center and ABC Store.
Brian Stuhltrager, Buford Dollar General manager, is donating “a lot of canned goods directly to the family.”
Buford crossroads will transform into a fundraising festival. Funnel cakes, hot boiled peanuts, and fresh-squeezed lemonade will be sold, with proceeds going to the fund.
Parham is setting up a Burgess Family Benefit account at Founders Federal Credit Union so people can easily make donations. The account will begin accepting donations Tuesday afternoon. Make check payable to Burgess Family Fund in care of R.L. Parham. He will also accept donations at his store.
He plans to have banners and flyers printed with details about the event. He encourages anyone on Facebook or other social media to spread the word.
Nearly every business in Buford has stepped up and donated to the fundraiser. Help was coming in from Pageland and Kershaw, too.
Jason Stevens of Stevens Electrical of Kershaw is supplying the power for the event.
Chuck Steele of Boggs Materials in Pageland said he will be dropping a cash donation off in the next few days.
JoJo’s Barbecue, The Shrimp Boat, Dixie Food Mart, Papa John’s Christmas Tree Farm, Hinson’s Grocery, IGA of Kershaw, Lloyd’s Mini Mart on Highway 9, Custom Carts in Pageland and Carter Quality Plumbing were all on board by press time Friday. The list continues to grow and includes many anonymous donors.

Want to help?
To donate time, money or items to the Burgess Family Benefit, call R.L. Parham at (803) 283-2090. An account has been set up at Wells Fargo to handle donations.

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.

Terri Ledbetter fundraiser collecting money for accessible picnic shelter

If you knew Terri, you knew this expression.

Mandy Catoe
mcatoe@thelancasternews.com

Terri Ledbetter loved music and she loved her friends at the Chester-Lancaster Board of Disabilities and Special Needs (CLDSN). Nearly two years ago, she died unexpectedly at age 43.
For the past 18 months, her family and friends have been raising money to build a covered, handicap-accessible picnic shelter at the CLDSN workshop where her friends can enjoy fresh air, music and a little freedom.
"If I could picture Terri right now, I know she is smiling," said Debbie Crenshaw, owner of Main Street Hair Designers and a member of the Terri Ledbetter Memorial Fundraisers.
"She loved her friends at the workshop and she would be so thrilled to know that they will soon be able to go outside and get fresh air, sunshine and some fun in memory of her."
All her friends remember two things about her – that smile and her love of music.
"We are making sure they can enjoy music out there," Crenshaw said.
The plans include electricity and most likely mounted speakers.
A fundraiser in Terri's honor will be held at Immanuel Baptist Church May 5 at 7 p.m. The gospel group King's Cause will perform.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Tickets are available at Blackmon Insurance Group, Chandler's Collision Center, Mane Street Hair Designers, Nichols, Hess & Associates or by calling (803) 285-5433.
The committee has raised over half the money for the project, but needs $10,000 more.
Corporate and individual sponsorships are being sold in advance of the concert, and the names will be printed in the program. Business sponsorships are $100, and individuals and couples can have their names in the program for $50.
Immanuel Baptist Church seats 450, but only 400 tickets will be available. Fifty reserved seats will be filled with Terri's friends from the board of disabilities who are attending as guests of honor.
Terri's mother, Janice Steele, said "Terri was my heart and soul." Steele's voice cracked and tears filled her eyes as she talked about Terri and shared photos of her daughter smiling, dancing and loving life.
“Terri was so precious in every way imaginable, just a beautiful girl,” Steele said.
Mark Blackmon, of Blackmon Insurance Group, is a member of King's Cause and also Steele's employer.
"If there is something we can do to make this happen, then that is what we want to do," he said. "To help Janice and to see how she has taken the tragedy of losing Terri at a young age and making good of it inspires us."
The picnic shelter could be built anywhere, but her mother insists it be built for Terri's friends at the workshop, where Terri spent her days. Constructing it for adults with special needs added extra costs such as a concrete pad and walkway to allow equal access for those in wheelchairs. Accessible picnic tables will allow them to fully enjoy the experience.
"Terri would have loved to be out there in the sunshine with her friends," Steele said.
The committee is hoping the shelter will be completed by the fall. The work activity center staff are excited about the picnic shelter.
"This offers them a choice to go outside, and of course, enjoy their lunch," said Renee' Phillips, day program supervisor. "But also to work on goals and enjoy discussions about what they are learning."
Steele's commitment and passion are as infectious as Terri's smile.
Chad Catledge, owner of Perception Builders, has volunteered his time to the project.
"Mrs. Steele's passion about this project was contagious, and I wanted to participate any way I could," Catledge said. "The best way we could help was to donate our time, and we are certainly happy to do that."
Sheila McWaters, executive director of CLDSN, expressed excitement and gratitude for the gift.
"The shelter will serve as an area where the individuals can enjoy the beautiful weather while listening to music and eating their lunch," McWaters said. "We all know how important it is to soak up the sun."
Terri was always smiling with an ipod in her pocket and wearing the newest headphones. She was quick to remove them when she saw a friend. The only thing better than music to her was people.
Terri's sister-in-law, Carrie Steele, reflected on the lessons Terri taught with her life.
"Her zest for life was special," Steele said. "She often got excited by moments that many of us take for granted. She'd rub her hands together, jump up and down and cheer gleefully with her signature laugh. She will continue to thrive in our hearts, especially those moments where we find great joy in simply being with those we love."


Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or
contact her at (803) 283-1152.

Cops, Jailers Reaching Out to Understand Mentally Ill

 Cross-intervention Skills Crucial as Mental Health Funding Drops
By Mandy Catoe
4/9/17

Once, when Melanie Odom was at Clemson University, she thought she had discovered a mathematical way to predict the future, and that the government was coming to steal it.
As a professor was trying to get her some help, she was in an auto accident. She ran across four lanes of traffic, still clutching the sandwich she had been eating.
“Why are you fleeing the scene of an accident!” yelled a police officer at the scene. As he approached her, she began tearing the sandwich into little pieces and throwing them at him.
“I was so rattled and so scared,” Odom recalls. “I started speaking French. He backed up and seemed to figure out that something wasn’t quite right.”
The EMTs came, restrained and sedated her, and she woke up in a hospital. 
Nearly 30 law enforcement officers sat on the edge of their seats at the Lancaster County law enforcement training facility last Thursday as Odom told her story. The weeklong crisis-intervention training was provided by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
“If you encounter a mental patient, an ounce of compassion will go a long way,” Odom told the officers. “Remaining calm is a huge deal. Those in an altered state of consciousness will pick up on calmness.”
The officers learned about various mental illnesses, community resources, body language and verbal de-escalation techniques to better deal with the mentally ill.
The state of South Carolina has been spending less and less on mental health resources in recent years, and officers are finding themselves filling in the gap.
“We are having to deal more and more with people with mental illness or mental disorders, and we need to be prepared to deal with those situations,” said Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile. “The Department of Mental Health is underfunded, and that puts a strain on law enforcement across the state.”
Last year’s statistics show the necessity of educating officers.
“County deputies responded to 251 mentally or emotionally disturbed persons in 2016 and transported 240 mental patients to a psychiatric treatment center,” said Major Matt Shaw, chief deputy at the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office. “The need for this training is real.”
Shaw attended the training in another county and asked that NAMI bring it to Lancaster.
“We want our officers to be safe, the public to be safe, and we want the person to be safe as well,” Shaw said.
NAMI officials on hand said that across the country, one in four adults have a mental illness and one in five children suffer from one.
“Do the math,” said Donna Breimann, state coordinator for NAMI’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). “In here with 29 officers, that means seven of you could one day develop a mental illness.”

MANDY CATOE/The Lancaster News

Deputy Davey Hendrix, Melanie Odom and Katie Jo Carter share a group hug after the training seminar, where Odom and Carter shared their stories.

 

Crisis intervention
Last week’s CIT training included law enforcement officers, detention center officials, and people with mental illness and their families. Seventeen Lancaster County deputies, four Lancaster Police Department officers and eight York County officers attended the training.
The first three days were filled with facts and numbers. The other two days made it real, with testimonies and role-playing. Chris Smith, Joe Timmons and Deborah Jennings, members of the Community Playhouse of Lancaster County, volunteered their time for Friday’s role-playing, reenacting real-life scenarios for the officers.
“I have friends in the Lancaster Police Department and the sheriff’s department, and they have these type situations on a regular basis,” Smith said. “The more practice they get in a safe environment, the better and safer they will be out in the real world. I am proud to assist them and proud of the Community Playhouse of Lancaster County’s role in this training.”
Thursday’s training put local faces on mental illness. Two mothers with mentally ill adult children and two mentally ill women shared their encounters with a broken mental health system and ill-informed law enforcement officers.
Odom told the officers about different bipolar disorders and brought them to life with detailed personal stories. She advised them that manic behavior can sometimes mimic drug abuse, with dilated pupils and slurred or altered speech. She encouraged them not to assume it’s drugs, but reminded them that the  mentally ill often self-medicate with alcohol and drugs.
That often leads to addiction as the uninsured seek relief or those on prescribed medication look for alternatives with fewer side effects.

Bipolar 1 disorder
Odom, 34, has Bipolar 1 disorder. Her mental illness began at age 14 when she was diagnosed with generalized anxiety. Over the span of 20 years, she has been hospitalized at least 10 times. She once attempted suicide. She has been stable now since 2012.
Odom said she was the valedictorian of her graduating class at Chester High School in 2001 and earned a psychology degree in 2005 from Clemson University with top honors.
“My bipolar condition is characterized by mania and depression,” she said. “I sometimes have hallucinations, and my ideas come at warp speed with racing thoughts that I can’t control.”
Another face with mental illness was Katie Jo Carter, 36, who has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder with attention deficit and obsessive compulsive disorder. She said she has a nursing degree and hopes to return to school this fall to pursue a counseling degree.
Carter shared clues for the officers to look for such as hygiene issues. Ask the person when he last ate or had a good night’s sleep, she suggested. Above all, she said, be patient with someone in crisis.
“Sometimes you can’t even explain yourself, because you don’t even understand what is going on in your head,” she said.
Carter threw her “dirt on the table” and shared details of where her illness had carried her. Some behaviors occurred in a fugue state, a temporary amnesia. That often caused problems in her marriage. She developed an eating disorder in her teens and later coped with alcohol and drugs, which is common among the mentally ill, she said. Sadly, she told the officers, the best treatment for anxiety is marijuana.
Her most recent breakdown was sparked by sleep deprivation, exhaustion and stress. She encouraged the officers to ask questions about those key triggers. Like Odom, she credits NAMI and and her faith in God for her continued recovery.
Carter and Odom, both members of NAMI, have implemented the NAMI program “Ending the Silence” in York County middle and high schools. They matter-of-factly teach warning signs of mental disorders to raise awareness and remove the stigma of mental illness. They hand out business cards with signs of mental conditions and NAMI contact information, a suicide hot line, and a 24/7 crisis text line. Text “NAMI” to 741741.

Parents suffer too
Two other faces of mental illness were mothers of adult children suffering with bipolar depression and schizophrenia with paranoia. One mother, asking to remain anonymous, said mental illness affects the whole family and relatives can provide key information. She encouraged the officers to talk with family members of someone having a mental crisis.
Lena Wallace, who led the effort to bring NAMI to Lancaster, talked about her daughter who lives with a bipolar disorder and has attempted suicide several times. She told the officers she has two daughters with illnesses, one with juvenile diabetes and one with mental illness.
“They are equal,” Wallace said. “That is what mental illness is, a disease of the brain, and the stigma needs to be removed so people will seek help.”
Both mothers told the officers their worst fear was for a police officer to knock on their doors and tell them their child was dead.
A scheduled break followed the faces portion of the training. Rather than taking a break, most officers approached the presenters.
Deputy Davey Hendrix insisted on hugging Odom and Carter together.
Lancaster County Detention Center officer Stacy Hatfield said the training was very helpful.
“We deal with a lot of inmates who do have some type of mental illness,” he said.
“Life is difficult enough when you are incarcerated. It helps when you have people who understand what your issues are and will work with you.”
Odom has a semicolon and the word “grace” tattooed on her right wrist.
“A period marks the end of a sentence,” she explained, “and the sentence is your life. I have chosen to place a semicolon in my sentence and continue my story. And the word ‘grace’ represents that my story continues because of God’s grace.”

NAMI support groups meet
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) holds support-group meetings each month for adults living with mental health conditions and their loved ones.  NAMI’s Connection is for adults living with mental health conditions, and NAMI’s Family Support Group is for their loved ones.
NAMI’s Connections and Family Support groups meet the first Monday and third Thursday of each month at First Presbyterian Church, 700 N. Main St., Lancaster. NAMI’s Family Support Group also meets each month from 7-8:30 p.m. in room 203 at Transformation Church, 8978 Charlotte Highway, Indian Land.

For details, visit www.namipiedmont.com.

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.

Somber Duties End in Prayer

 Coleen Burgess ‘would not want us to be sad’

By Mandy Catoe

Sunday, April 9, 2017 at 2:00 am (Updated: April 9, 2:00 am)

Coleen Burgess will be remembered for the simple pleasures she enjoyed and bestowed.
She liked to drink coffee with her daughter-in-law every morning, sitting in her recliner, a Chihuahua balanced on each leg – Splash and Dixie.
Saturday mornings were for “yard-sale-in’.” And any day was for family and friends around the table. She was a fabulous cook, and every meal seemed to have at least three courses.
“We did everything together,” Tammy Burgess said Friday, unable to hold back tears as she talked about her mother-in-law and next-door neighbor. “She said I was the daughter she never had.”
Coleen Burgess, 66, died about 5 p.m. Thursday.  A 100-foot-tall oak, uprooted by a storm, crashed through her home alongside Pageland Highway in the close-knit Buford community.
At least 16 first responders worked for three hours at the scene, cutting away large parts of the tree but knowing they could not save her. Her precious Splash and Dixie emerged unhurt about 7:30.
The rescue workers fell silent when Burgess was brought out to a coroner’s van. After everything was done, they huddled up and prayed for the family.
Someone gave Tammy Burgess her mother-in-law’s Bible after finding it in the yard.
“She loved to read her Bible,” Burgess said.
By 10 a.m. Friday, friends and family had begun returning to remove what remained of the massive tree that split the home in half. Some came with chainsaws. Others came to pray.
“She would not want us to be sad,” Tammy Burgess said. “She would want us to keep on.”
Burgess took a few minutes to talk about her mother-in-law as she stood in her own yard, which is next door to her in-laws’. It was hard to tell where one yard ended and the other began.
Coleen and her husband, Jim, moved to Buford from Glens Falls, N.Y., three decades ago, bringing three boys to raise.
They had two sons together, James Jr. and Kevin. Coleen had a son, Bernie Durkee, from a previous marriage who was a couple of years older than James Jr.
Coleen Burgess retired a year ago from her job as a certified nursing assistant at Carolinas Medical Center-Union to take care of Jim, 73, who had begun to have health problems. She loved her job, but wanted to spend as much time as possible with Jim while he was still having more good days than bad, Tammy Burgess said.
They bought a camper last year and had already enjoyed several trips to Lake Wateree and Andrew Jackson State Park. They were planning another trip for June.
Tammy and Coleen worked together at Kmart before it closed. Tammy got a job at Family Dollar, and Coleen got her CNA training and went to work at the hospital.
Coleen always had plans for making things better, whether it was her home or life for her family. She had just bought a special sewing machine to make curtains for her living room. She had plans to paint the house and had recently put down new wood floors after years of disliking her green carpet.
She was so excited to have those new floors, her daughter-in-law said. “She would laugh and say, ‘no more green carpet!’”
In the summer, she gardened and bought fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market to preserve for the winter. The kids loved eating at Grandma’s. Thanksgiving was always a huge feast, with lots of leftovers.
“The big thing around here was her turkey soup she made from leftovers two days later,” Tammy Burgess said.
She stood on her back porch Friday morning and looked down at a clear glass hummingbird mounted on a stick that was stuck in the ground next to her doorstep. Beside it was a glass cross. They were solar powered and lit up at night. Coleen loved watching them glow as it got dark each evening.
Colleen gave Tammy the hummingbird last Christmas. Tammy gave Coleen the cross for her birthday on March 21.
Friday morning the family was waiting for James Jr. to return with Bernie from the airport so they could make the final arrangements.
Coleen Burgess wanted to be buried next to her father in New York, so the three sons will make that trip together with their mother’s ashes after her funeral here.
Tammy and Kevin have two sons, Patrick, 17, and Noah, 10. They will be making room in tight quarters for her father-in-law since the tree destroyed his home.


Jim Burgess walked by wearing a cowboy hat and steadying himself with a cane as Tammy talked about her mother-in-law.
“Hey Pop, you OK?” she said. “You’re moving a little slow this morning.”
“I’m running out of gas,” he said.
As he walked past, she said loud enough for him to hear, “We ain’t got much, but whatever we got is his.”

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.

https://www.gofundme.com/burgess-family-tree-removal

Falling Tree Kills Buford Woman

By Mandy Catoe
April 6, 2017

At least one person was killed Thursday when a tree crushed a mobile home about 5 p.m. in the 4700 block of Pageland Highway, about a half-mile east of Buford Crossroads.
“There is one confirmed fatality and the coroner’s office has been notified,” said Lancaster County Fire Marshall Stephen Blackwelder.

Officials did not identify the victim by press time, but Patrick Burgess, 17, identified her as his grandmother, Coleen Burgess.
Patrick Burgess, interviewed at the scene, said she was taking a nap in her bedroom when the tree came down. His grandfather, Jim Burgess, was the only other person in the house, eating a sandwich in the kitchen, according to his grandson.
Patrick Burgess said he and his father, Kevin, and some friends were nearby in a shed playing cards when they heard the crash.
“At first I thought it was lightning,” he said. When he saw the tree on the house, he knew his grandmother’s room was underneath it.
He said Jim Burgess escaped the wreckage and was unhurt. Patrick Burgess called 911. He said his grandmother, a certified nursing assistant, had retired last April from Carolinas Medical Center in Monroe.
At press time Thursday evening, nearly two dozen emergency vehicles crammed the site. A John Deere tractor was removing debris from the house. Firefighters wielded chainsaws.
Two helicopters hovered overhead. Eighteen relatives, friends and neighbors consoled each other in the yard.
Buford Volunteer Fire Department rescue workers were working at a frantic pace to get the 100-foot-tall tree off the home.
“It was almost cut in half,” said Blackwelder. “Our guys are bustin’ it to make sure that no one else is inside.”
Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile said he believes the overnight torrential thunderstorms that dumped more than 2 inches of rain in some parts of the county, when coupled with Thursday’s strong wind gusts of up to 40 mph, had to be factors that pulled the massive oak out of the ground.
“It didn’t fall on the house, it fell through the house,” Faile said. “It’s a bad situation, and it just hurts my heart to see something like this happen.”
Kevin Burgess’ wife of 24 years, Tammy, was among the quiet group of family and neighbors watching as the rescuers worked.
“She was my best friend,” Tammy Burgess said of her mother-in-law. “She was a very loving woman with a big heart. She loved her grandkids.”
Patrick Burgess said his grandmother fixed him breakfast every morning before school, including today.
“I was like grandma’s favorite,” he said. “I was over at her house all the time. She was one of the most kind people I have ever known. Even when I did something stupid, she would come help me out….
“I didn’t know it would be the last time I would tell her I loved her this morning.”

UPDATE: Two dogs were pulled from the demolished house around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday evening. Both were still alive.



Reporters Gregory A. Summers and Kayla Vaughn contributed to this article.

Gamecock fans hoist school flag downtown

Celebrating both teams' Final Four weekend

Mandy Catoe
mcatoe@thelancasternews.com



April , 2017
Nearly 30 people wearing garnet and black celebrated Tuesday morning downtown as the Carolina Gamecock flag was raised in honor of the national champion Lady Gamecocks and the Final Four men's team.
Most were lifelong fans who said they were proud of the Gamecocks – all of them!
As the flag went up outside the county administration building, so did the fans' arms in victory, and when it reached the top they all cheered. A couple of motorists honked as they drove past.
Among the proud fans were County Councilman Larry Honeycutt and Chief Magistrate Van Richardson. Many county employees took a few minutes out of their day to pay homage to their Gamecocks.
"I have been a Gamecock since 1951 and never thought I would see what I have seen over the past 10 years with national championships in women's basketball, baseball, and the Final Four for the men and women," Honeycutt said. "We are on the move."
Julie Kent, who works in the magistrate's office, has a son graduating from USC this May.
"I am glad the girls pulled it out," Kent said. "It's a good memory for him and the entire graduating class."
                                      
Melissa Fraunfelter held The State newspaper featuring the first-time ever national champion Lady Gamecocks on the front page. Debbie Traywick held up a statue of Cocky, the mascot.
Traywick, who called herself a "diehard fan all the way," brought Cocky from her office in the finance department to celebrate.
Richardson said he was proud of both basketball teams, "but especially the women for bringing it home!"



Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or
contact her at (803) 283-1152.