advertisement:
Rick and Tammy Sark of Bluffton, and their children, know all about adversity.
They have had more than their share of health misfortunes in the past 10 years, but their faith in God and support from fellow man has helped them to overcome huge obstacles.
Once again, however, they are up against a serious challenge . . . . and their friends are again pitching in to help.
As most people in the community already know, Rick Sark has turned back leukemia after years of struggle, and his son, Chase, also has overcome a brain tumor.
And now the family is dealing with cancer.
This time it is Tammy Sark, and she is battling cancer of the lungs and brain.
A bus driver for Bluffton-Harrison Schools, and a hair stylist, Tammy is currently on medical leave as she is one month into radiation treatments for the brain cancer.
As those treatments are completed, she will then undergo treatments for the cancer in her lungs and nymph lodes.
In the meantime, friends of the Sark family are organizing a “March for Sarks” benefit event to assist the family in overwhelming medical expenses.
“March for Sarks” will be held on Sunday, March 16, from 2 to 5 p.m., beginning and ending at the Arts Commerce & Visitors Centre.
Participants are being encouraged to make pledges and donations and take part in activities, which will include walking, running, skating, or riding the Rivergreenway, starting and ending at the Arts Commerce & Visitors Centre.
A open house and refreshments with the Sark family from 2 to 5 p.m. will be held at the Arts Centre, with Rivergreenway activities to begin at 2:15 p.m. and a 50/50 drawing, auction and raffles to conclude the event at 4 p.m.
Cannisters for donations to the Sark family also have been set out at locations around the community and donations will also be accepted at Friday night’s Bluffton boys varsity basketball game.
Donations also may be made at MarkleBank to the “Rick & Tammy Sark Medical Account.”
Email registration for activities on the Greenway may be made at marchforsarks@hotmail.com.
Among those friends of the Sarks organizing the event and serving as contacts are Chris and Missy Smith (260) 273-0851 and Scott and Angie Harris (260) 615-1103.
T-shirts will be available for $10 from the contact people or through the website.
The March for Sarks is an extension of wide support already received from the community, Rick Sark told the News-Banner.
“The community has already shown its incredible support. Monday through Thursday, we have our church, Hope Missionary, and the Bluffton band parents bringing in meals,” Rick said.
“The prayers, concerns and cards that Tammy receives helps her through each and every day. The community was so wonderfully supporting as I made my journey with leukemia and now they are doing the same for Tammy. “How we’ll ever thank everyone enough, I’ll never know,” Rick Sark said.
The Sark family journey began in 1998 when Rick Sark was diagnosed with two arteriovenus malformations in the brain.
Then in 1999, Chase Sark was diagnosed with Craniopharyngioma, which is a benign brain tumor. This cyst was treatable and Chase has yearly MRIs to see if it has grown, and thus far there have been no recurring problems.
Then in July of 2000, Rick Sark was diagnosed with Chronic Mylogenous Leukemia (CML). He underwent extensive treatments in Seattle, Wash., and in Indianapolis over the next four years, including two bone marrow transplants.
“I am now four years out from the second transplant and feel truly blessed from God,” Sark said of his recovery.
joe@news-banner.com
Read this story in our E-Edition, Click Here
Talk about this story in our forums!