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The 59-year-old Barre Mills resident was diagnosed with squamous cell carninoma on Feb. 12. Since then, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for a tumor on the back of his tongue and a lymph node on his neck have used up almost all of his savings.
A 17-year Navy veteran, Sanders left the service as a chief hospital corpsman. As a civilian, he was an emergency medical technician, a First Responder in the West Salem area and chief deputy medical examiner for La Crosse County.
For the past nine years, he worked for Access Medical Transit, taking the handicapped, elderly and dialysis patients to their appointments. The benefit for Sanders is being organized by his fiancee, Mary Revels, and by his family and friends.
“It’s been his sister and his daughter and pretty much all his family and friends,” Revels said. “We’ve all pulled together and we have meetings every Sunday to figure out how to help. Neil has been a people-server all his life, so that’s why we’re asking people to help out now.”
A poker run will start at the Hawg Pasture in West Salem at 11 a.m. The benefit at the Log Cabin will run from 2 until 8 p.m. Besides a silent auction, there will be clowns and live music. Items to be raffled include massages, quarter-barrel parties, and Brewers, Loggers and Packers packages.
Sanders, who rides a Harley but is not in any club, has lost a lot of weight since February. “He’s gone from 190 pounds down to 140 pounds,” Revels said.
Sanders might need more treatment and surgery in the coming year. But after an operation last week, his doctors say he is cancer-free. Still, there are plenty of bills.
“We’ve been paying as we go,” Revels said.
Although he could barely speak because of the recent surgery, Sanders did respond when asked how he feels about all the help people have offered him.
“This has been the greatest and most humbling experience of my life,” he said.
How to help
WHAT: Benefit and poker run for cancer patient Neil Sanders
WHERE: Log Cabin in Bangor and the Hawg Pasture in West Salem.
WHEN: Sunday — poker run begins at 11 a.m. at the Hawg Pasture (registration starts at 9 a.m.) and ends at the Log Cabin. Benefit will feature music and prizes from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Log Cabin.
DONATIONS: Send to First Community Credit Union of West Salem, 1410 W. Hwy. 16, West Salem, WI 54669 (all donations anonymous).
Michael Martin is a reporter for the Coulee News in West Salem.
