ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 31, 1996 TAG: 9612310103
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SERIES: Whatever Happened To...A look back at 1996
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
CHRIS HENLEY, the young cancer patient who got a bedside visit from Hacksaw Jim Duggan, is now practicing his own moves.
Maybe one day, not too many years from now, you'll be reading a story about a promising young professional wrestler named Chris Henley.
Except he'll probably be nicknamed "Cancer Crusher."
These days, though, Chris is still in the early rounds of his fight. Chris, 11, was diagnosed with bone cancer almost two years ago, and has been undergoing treatment at the Pediatric Oncology Unit of Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital's Medical Center for Children.
In April, he, his parents and his two brothers had planned to travel from their home in Wythe County for a special treat: the World Championship Wrestling matches at the Roanoke Civic Center. Chris, an avid fan who likes to trap his brothers in elaborate holds, wants nothing more in life than to be a wrestler himself when he grows up.
But the day before the match, Chris came down with a fever and was hospitalized because his immune system was weak, so his doctor and his parents arranged for something that turned out to be even better: a bedside visit from one of Chris' favorite wrestlers, Hacksaw Jim Duggan.
The long-haired, 6-foot-2-inch, 300-pound wrestler clowned around with Chris for about an hour, trading wrestling tips and giving the smiling boy ammunition for his own real-life fight.
"Chris is off therapy now," said Dr. Ron Neuberg, his pediatric oncologist. "He completed his chemotherapy in November, and at the present, his scans show no evidence of active disease."
Of the visit, Neuberg said, "Emotion, fight, drive, mood - does that objectively impact our remission rates? People have tried to look at things like laughter and so on, and that's really a hard thing to quantify. But if you ask anybody who treats children with serious disorders like these, the answer is unequivocally, yes. Kids who are in a good mood eat better, their stress levels are down, and that improves their immune systems."
Chris' type of bone cancer, Ewing's sarcoma, is not generally fatal, and many patients who are in remission can lead long, relatively normal lives with regular medical tests, Neuberg said.
"He's doing pretty good," said Chris' mother, Kim Henley. "He's got a slight head cold now, but he's back in school and he's in remission. He's really looking good, and the scans are good."
Chris likes to brag to the kids in his fourth-grade class about his meeting with Hacksaw Jim Duggan and he says he's learned a new move to terrorize his brothers - the Scorpion Duck Walk. He keeps Duggan's picture in the living room, but Duggan's still only his second-favorite wrestler, he says. At the top of his list is Hulk Hogan, whom Chris wants to meet "really bad."
Aside from the baldness caused by chemotherapy, there's not much that separates Chris from other 11-year-olds.
"Actually, he doesn't want his hair to grow back. He likes it better bald," his mother said.
Why? "Well, Hulk Hogan's kind of bald, so there you go."
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: File/April 1996 Cancer patient Chris Henley got a visitby CNBfrom professional wrestler Hacksaw Jim Duggan, one of his
favorites. color. KEYWORDS: YEAR 1996