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Help fight leukemia: Rock in a chair

Two friends who have witnessed how the disease has ravaged people they love plan to raise money with a Rock-A-Thon on Saturday.

By MARLON A. WALKER
Published March 31, 2006

It's hard for Victor Griffin to wrap his head around the fact that someone he knows might die from leukemia.

The Pinellas County sheriff's deputy has watched as his nephew, Michael Herring, dealt with pneumonia, meningitis and having his gall bladder, appendix and part of a lung removed. It has been hard, he said, considering how close the two are.

"If he were to die, it'd be like losing one of my own," he said, holding back tears. "He means that much to me."

Herring, a soldier stationed in Fort Benning, Ga., went to Iraq in March 2003. When he came home in April 2004, he was pale and 34 pounds lighter. Everybody thought it was normal, including Herring. Griffin said he had heard stories of people losing weight while on overseas tours.

A doctor diagnosed Herring with leukemia soon after he returned. Now he's fighting for his life.

Luckily for him, a prospective donor has been found and steps are being taken to prepare Herring for a bone marrow transplant.

Griffin said he wants to help make sure nobody else goes through what his nephew is facing. A chance run-in with a friend is helping him achieve that goal.

Griffin and Pinellas Park police Officer Jim Rexroad have planned a Rock-A-Thon, where people will sit in rocking chairs during two four-hour shifts to raise money for leukemia research through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The event will be Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cracker Barrel, 4011 Ulmerton Road. The men have raised over $2,000 with a goal of $5,500.

Charities are strained from hurricane and tsunami relief. "I'm incredibly excited by those who have been able to give what little they had left over," said Rexroad.

The fundraiser idea came after he attended the October funeral of a childhood friend, Chris Forshey, who died of complications from the disease in Illinois.

"I never knew what leukemia was," he said. "It was eye-opening how many people were affected by it."

He got the idea for a Rock-A-Thon in January from his pastor, who had success with a similar event. Sometime in February, he ran into Griffin and told him what he was thinking. Griffin jumped aboard.

"The two of us just took off from that point," Rexroad said.

"I couldn't help Chris," he said. "But maybe I can help guys like Chris."

Marlon A. Walker can be reached at 727 893-8737 or mwalker@sptimes.com

WHAT: Rock-A-Thon

WHEN: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Cracker Barrel, 4011 Ulmerton Road

TO DONATE: Contact Jim Rexroad at 541-0758 or Victor Griffin at 204-5705. Checks can be made payable to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

[Last modified March 31, 2006, 01:09:18]