MedWatch- CCMH provides rides to chemotherapy for cancer patients from Medwatch 7 KSWO on Vimeo.
LAWTON, OK (KSWO) – A cancer diagnosis can be devastating, but not feeling well enough to drive yourself to appointments can be even worse.
That’s why Comanche County Memorial Hospital’s Cancer Center offers a free service where volunteers drive more than 300 miles round trip to ensure that a patient gets the treatment they need in hopes of curing the disease.
“It’s lifesaving for almost everyone we bring in,” Jack Bozarth said. “They have no other way to get here and home.”
Jack Bozarth has been volunteering to drive people to their appointments at the Cancer Center in Lawton for about five years and he knows the importance of his job.
“It’s vital for many patients who cannot afford to come every day to get their treatment,” Bozarth said. “Many do not have cars and many after they begin their treatment they are too weak or incapacitated to drive and when you’re coming every day for 60 days it’s difficult to have family or friends every day bring you in.”
While it’s all about helping others, Bozarth said the people he’s driven to appointments have affected him without even knowing it.
“I’ve learned to be more compassionate,” Bozarth said. “There are people that are really a lot worse off than I am and it’s just uplifting to me when I pick them up and to see that they’re fighting, they’re wanting to get rid of cancer and they’re coming every day and they’re putting up a good fight.”
Bozarth volunteers once or twice a week depending on his availability and how much they need him to drive. A spokesperson for Cancer Center said drivers like Bozarth have racked up thousands of miles on the cars leaving them in need of repairs and new vehicles. And they’re hoping you can help them out.
“It would be heartbreaking to us to not be able to offer it to them but it would be devastating to the patients that couldn’t get here,” Bozarth said”.
The Spirit of Survival raises money for the Cancer Centers but you don’t have to wait until the race to help this free service stay on the road. You can donate by going to SpiritofSurvival.com and clicking donate. The money raised will help pay for gas, maintenance, unexpected bills and hopefully provide the center with a new car or two.
Copyright 2016 KSWO. All rights reserved.