Cordele Dispatch, Cordele, GA

Local news

September 10, 2010

Blood drive honors local men

Cordele —



CORDELE — Crisp County’s next blood drive Tuesday, Sept. 14 will be sponsored by the Dixie Riders Motorcycle Club in honor of two local men, Michael Sangster and Chris Chappell.

Both men are facing serious health issues, but each one says he will try to attend the blood drive. This month’s drive will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Cordele Community Clubhouse.

Dixie Riders members encourage everyone who is able to show their support of these two men who serve the community by donating a unit of blood.

Sangster, a Crisp County sheriff’s deputy, learned in April that a mole on his back was a melanoma. He has undergone several surgeries since then, he says, and had to have all the lymph nodes in his right arm removed.

He has completed radiation treatments for now and is taking chemotherapy. He says he has been able to return to work on a part-time basis and has felt pretty good for the past several days.

Chappell is waiting on a heart transplant, but in the meantime, he has been implanted with a device that literally is keeping him alive until a heart is available.

Information technology is his field of expertise, but right now, he is unable to work. He also serves as scout master for the Cordele Boy Scout troop, but he said his assistant has stepped in and is running the troop in his absence.

Chappell’s problem dates back 16 years when at the age of 23 he was in the Marine Corps and suffered through a bout of congestive heart failure. It’s likely, he says, that a viral infection attacked the muscles of his heart at that time and caused permanent damage.

Until about three months ago, he says, “I lived with a heart valve problem, but I was stable, then I began getting progressively worse.”

He wound up in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta where he spent about two months.  “My cardiologists say I’m a miracle, that I really shouldn’t still be living.

“I’m pretty excited about getting a second chance.” In spite of the bad days, Chappell says he feels fortunate to be doing as well as he is. “I saw so many other heart patients in worse shape,” he said.

 

Text Only
Local news
  • Sharing a coconut Sharing a coconut

    Wes Gibbs, a second grade student in Mrs. Sheila Henderson's homeroom, turned a homework assignment into an exciting class project.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Teen Maze returning

    For the third time in the last four years, Teen Maze is returning to Crisp County High School this spring.

    February 3, 2012

  • Pecan producers invited to meeting

    All area pecan producers are invited to a production meeting Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 12 noon in the Crisp County Ag Assembly Room.

    February 3, 2012

  • Take your favorite girl(s) to a dance

    Fathers, grandfathers, godfathers, uncles and other father figures have an opportunity to make some young girl feel really special this Friday.

    February 3, 2012

  • Police make four arrests on Thursday

    City police officers reported making four assorted arrests on what otherwise was a quite Thursday.

    February 3, 2012

  • Police responded to 1,191 calls for service in January

    A spokesman for the Cordele Police Department’s criminal interdiction and traffic enforcement unit has released a January activity report that shows officers answered 1,191 calls for service and arrested 32 wanted persons.

    February 2, 2012

  • Local resident faces drug, traffic charges

    A driver’s license and sobriety checkpoint conducted Tuesday by Cordele Police Department officers resulted in the arrest of a 29-year-old local resident on dual charges.

    February 2, 2012

  • DCUTS ceasing operation

    Council members here met in a called meeting Tuesday to grant permission for the DCUTS director to ask Dooly County to take over operation of the transit system.

    February 1, 2012

  • G-P Chemical plant closing

    Employees of the Georgia-Pacific Chemical plant here were informed Wednesday that their facility will be closing, and 24 employees will be terminated.

    February 1, 2012

  • Pate tadpoles Examining live tadpoles

    Second grade students at J. S. Pate Elementary have been studying the life cycle of a frog.

    February 1, 2012 1 Photo

Business Marquee
AP Video
Killer of Fla. Girl Found in Landfill Gets Life Army Orders Bradley Manning Court-martial Cancer Charity Revives Breast-screening Grants Heavy Snowstorm Hits Colorado On Its Way East 2nd Teacher From LA School Arrested on Sex Claim Prosecutors Close Armstrong Inquiry, No Charges Sights and Sounds: Football Fans Pour Into Indy Unemployment Rate Down to 8.3% Obama: Still Far Too Many Americans Need Jobs GOP: Jobs Numbers Welcome, Can Do Better Fla. Man Adopts Girlfriend in Legal Battle More Deaths As Egypt Clashes Continue Raw Video: Prince William in Falklands Egpyt Protesters Blame Police for Soccer Deaths 'Lucky' 9-Year-Old Receives 6-Organ Transplant Raw Video: Michelle Vs. Ellen in Pushup Contest First Person: Will Peyton Manning Stay in Indy? Egypt Shaken After Deadly Soccer Riot New Suits, New Starts for New York's Unemployed Hall of Famer Dorsett Speaks Out on NFL Injuries
House Ads
More
Weather Radar
Video Gallery
Hyperlocal Search
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Popular Searches
Powered by Local.com
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Seasonal Content
Poll

Will Newt Gingrich be the candidate to challenge Barack Obama?

A. Yes
B. No
     View Results