ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604150123
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
note: above
CHRIS COULDN'T make the show, so the show came to him.
Some kids want to be an astronaut or a rock star or president when they grow up, but Chris Henley is different. He wants to be a "rassler."
So for the last several weeks, the 10-year-old and his two brothers had been counting off the days until Saturday, when they planned to travel to the Roanoke Civic Center from their Wythe County home to see the World Championship Wrestling matches.
But Chris got a fever Friday. For most kids, that wouldn't be enough to sideline them, but Chris was diagnosed last year with bone cancer. His white blood-cell count was low last week, and his immune system wasn't as strong as it should be.
He had to be hospitalized in the Pediatric Oncology Unit in Community Hospital's Medical Center for Children. The doctors told him he wasn't going to make the wrestling match.
Chris was pretty upset, but then the hospital and his parents came up with a better idea: to bring a little of the wrestling match to him. Or, to be more specific, a wrestler: Hacksaw Jim Duggan.
When Hacksaw heard about Chris' plight, he agreed to visit him at the hospital. As the time neared for Hacksaw to arrive, Chris squirmed nervously in his blue cotton pajamas.
Finally, a few minutes late, Hacksaw ran in the door - 6 feet, 2 inches and 300 pounds or so, with a dark beard and long, unruly, sandy blond hair. A black muscle shirt stretched over his bulging chest, and he wore a pair of red-white-and-blue American flag sweat pants.
"Is Christopher here? Where's my buddy Christopher?'' Hacksaw boomed as he made his way over to the hospital bed. "I heard you weren't going to make it tonight, so I came to see you."
Hacksaw is a longtime fan-pleaser - a "good-guy" wrestler from Glens Falls, N.Y., whose trademarks are the American flag, a roll of tape he wraps around his fist and a 2-by-4 that he says he uses "only when I'm provoked."
"I've got a rough day at the office tonight," Hacksaw told Chris. "The Giant, 500 pounds. Whew!''
Then he added, "Well, my 2-by-4 won't be too far behind."
"Hoo-ooo!'' he yelled. "They already warned me when I came in here - 'Don't be too loud.'''
Then Hacksaw signed autographs and gathered Chris' family for a group photograph.
Chris and his brothers - Jonathan, 8, and J.C., 11 - have wrestling action figures and toys. They play at wrestling at home - when their parents aren't close at hand to break it up.
"I slapped a Figure Four on him," Chris said proudly before Hacksaw arrived, pointing to his older brother.
"They get plumb rowdy," said Chris' dad, Jessie Henley. "I'm almost afraid to take them to the matches because I think they'll get away from me and jump in the ring with them."
When Hacksaw learned of Chris' technical expertise, he appeared impressed.
"You know the Figure Four?'' he asked. "I don't know the Figure Four. I could never figure that out."
He clowned around with Chris a little and said: "I'm not much of a technical wrestler. I don't care if I win the match, as long as I win the fight, huh, Christopher?''
Chris just smiled widely, his blue eyes following Hacksaw's every move. "He's huge, Mom," he whispered.
Dr. Ron Neuberg, Chris' pediatric oncologist, watched and smiled from the background.
"Part of the healing process is the energy to fight your illness, and I think this kind of thing gives them a boost of energy," he said. "Plus, they just go through a lot, and they deserve a break every now and then, if we can provide it."
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff Hacksaw Jim Duggan takes onby CNB10-year-old Chris Henley on Saturday at Roanoke Community Hospital.
Chris won the match. color