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ALLIANCE - Three local individuals battling cancer will benefit from an annual event held in Knox Township this year.
The 12th Annual Rockin' Out Cancer (ROC) will be held Aug. 12 at 2017 Knox School Road, Alliance (corner of Knox School and Buck roads). Gates open at 4 p.m., with food served from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature four bands - Dan and the Man, Jimmy & the Soul Blazers, Thrown 2 Gether and Bad Juju Cleveland.
Tickets cost $35 pre-sale and $40 at the door and includes food, drinks and entertainment. All of the proceeds go toward the fight against cancer. This year the recipients will be Amanda Summers, Jamie Lee Robinson and Chase Scott, with a portion going to The Arthur G. James and Richard J. Solove Research Institute at The Ohio State University (The James).
"Rockin out Cancer is an annual event that is driven by a team of volunteers with the single goal of bringing together our community to celebrate those we have lost, those who have won and those who are fighting," said ROC Organizer Tony Pasco.
Pasco noted that since bringing the event back to Knox School Road, the community and several "huge hearted" local business owners have helped make ROC a household name, with even young men and women promoting the event with lemonade stands to beat their fundraising goals from the previous year.
This year, a local young man, Griffin Deckerd of the Barnyard Buddies 4-H Club, has pledged to donate a large portion of the proceeds he earns from the sale of his dairy beef feeder at the Columbiana County Fair to the 2023 ROC event.
"We are proud of ROC, this community and everyone that supports our mission," Pasco said. "Stop in and celebrate with us…and maybe grab a hat or a T-shirt to help spread the word that ROCKIN' OUT CANCER is in our home town."
Rockin' out Cancer is a 501 C3 organization driven by a team of volunteers with the single goal of bringing together our community for an annual concert event to celebrate those we have lost, those who have won and those who are fighting. For information about the event, purchasing tickets or making a donation visit rockinoutcancer.org.
Recipients
Amanda Summers
Amanda Summers is battling breast cancer for the third time. She was originally diagnosed in April 2013, three weeks shy of her 25th birthday. The young mother was undeterred with an attitude of "OK, I've got this." And she did, persevering through chemo (and the loss of her hair), radiation and surgery.
The cancer returned eight years later and Summers again rose to the challenge with the attitude of "OK, I've got this." And again she persevered, this time through a double mastectomy in January of 2022.
Then five months later, after being told it was 99.99% sure all the cancer cells had been removed, the cancer had spread to the outer lining of her lungs. And still she says "OK, I've got this."
This time around, the stronger chemo has made Summers sicker, required more doctor visits and sapped her energy. It is harder to meet expenses with one income and be the best mother she can, but she is not giving up, remaining determined to see her children graduate, get married and have children of their own. She also provides encouragement to new chemo patients, explaining the process in words that are comforting and understandable.
Jamie Lee Robinson
Jamie Lee Robinson is the mother of a 5-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with Stage 1 cervical cancer in December of 2020, resulting in an emergency hysterectomy. The cancer to spread to her hip and lung after the surgery, at which time she began treatments and was later diagnosed as Stage 4. At that time she was only given approximately a year to live.
Robinson started several types of chemo, making her very sick while trying to be a mother and work. The treatments killed the cancer on her hip, but the cancer grew in her lung and had to be surgically removed in June of 2022. She was told at that time the surgery was a success and there was no more cancer in her body.
However, a tumor formed on Robinson's right breast and ruptured. She found a surgeon who agreed to conduct a surgery, but wanted to shrink the tumor with radiation first. While enduring the radiation, she learned the cancer on her hip had returned and she lost the ability to walk without assistance from a walker or cane. She started back on chemo, only to find out it wasn't working and the cancer had spread across her chest wall into her ribs and lungs, pectoral muscles and lymph nodes, as well as three more cancerous tumors had formed in her pelvic area.
Due to the amount of cancer in her body, Robinson has just one more attempt at chemo, which she is attempting due to not wanting to ever give up, despite being given six months to a year to live and offered the option of hospice.
Robinson said she will never give up and is attempting other treatments not covered by Medicaid. Her insurance is also denying a home health aide and she is relying on family and friends to help care for her. She is trying to live as a single mom in her own apartment, but she is currently living off disability because she cannot work.
Chase Scott
Chase Scott is a 16-year-old West Branch student who was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a very aggressive form of cancer, in November of 2022. He was immediately hospitalized and began a long and grueling treatment. His current treatment plan is predicted to last two and a half years, but it will be a life-long battle for him and his family.
Thus far, Chase had had to endure routine lab work and lumbar punctures (spinal taps), blood clots in his legs and lungs, sores in his mouth and throat, weight loss, loss of appetite, fatigue and multiple trips to the emergency room at Akron Children's Hospital. He is currently in a treatment phase of intense chemo, with the possibility of increase radiation in the future.
Chase is the oldest son of Ramon and Brittney Scott and has two siblings with their own needs. An avid dirt bike rider, he was employed at Zep's Pizza in Sebring before his diagnosis and had started his own "small business" of mowing lawns in the Sebring area. His mother is employed at Dunham's Sports in Alliance, but has had her position put on hold so she can care for Chase, resulting in the loss of two of the home's three incomes.
khowell@salemnews.net