THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410070296
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Susie Stoughton
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Thursday morning, David Bradshaw will be flipping flapjacks for his friend, Bobby Bradshaw, who needs a heart transplant.
The two aren't related, though they've lived near each other for years. And in their close-knit community, friends and neighbors are treated like kin.
``Home'' extends beyond their hometown of Sedley, a quiet, sleepy village in Southampton County about seven miles north of Franklin. When someone's in need, folks gather 'round.
``Everybody pulls together,'' David Bradshaw said.
He and his wife, Phyllis, are helping organize Thursday's benefit pancake breakfast at the Golden Corral in Franklin. The all-you-can-eat meal - hot cakes and sausage - will be served from 6 to 10 a.m.
About 20 others have volunteered to help them cook.
``We just live in a fantastic community,'' Phyllis Bradshaw said. ``Whenever there's a need, people help out.''
She and her husband have been involved in a number of other community-caring demonstrations.
``We've always had good response,'' she said.
Bobby Bradshaw, 51, had a heart attack about a dozen years ago and, later, bypass surgery. A frequent hospital patient in recent years, he's been in Henrico Doctor's Hospital in Richmond in weak condition for several weeks.
His only hope, family and friends have said, is a transplant.
``This is the only thing that can help him now,'' said Gracie Foster, whose daughter, Karen, is married to Rob Bradshaw, Bobby's son.
``They say he's a candidate for a successful one,'' Foster said.
Rob and Karen Bradshaw also live in Sedley with their 3-year-old daughter. Bobby Bradshaw's daughter, Kristi, is a student at Meredith College.
Foster, who is heading up ticket sales for the breakfast, came up with the idea for the benefit breakfast.
``This is one way we can help in a small way,'' Foster said.
Bobby Bradshaw is well-known in the area, where he was born and has lived most of his life. For years, he's sold cars for Blake Blythe at the Blake Ford-Mercury-Mazda dealership in Franklin.
David Bradshaw, who works in the sheet finishing department at Union Camp Corp., has been through some of the tough times with his friend. He was with him at a meeting at their hunt club when Bobby had his heart attack.
``Bobby just got up and went outside,'' he said. ``He didn't say anything to anybody.''
After a while when he didn't return, David and some others went searching for him and found him lying on the ground.
``He thought he had indigestion,'' said David, who borrowed a van and drove him to the hospital in Franklin.
Bobby Bradshaw's wife, Millie, teaches math at Franklin High School. But she has been spending as much time as possible in Richmond recently since her husband has been in the hospital's coronary care unit.
She hopes more people will become aware of the need for organ donors and encourages everyone to sign the form on the back of their driver's license.
Bobby Bradshaw needs to remain in the hospital to maintain his position on the waiting list for a transplant and to keep him on medicine to allow the operation, said Brenda Daughtrey, Millie Bradshaw's sister and one of the benefit volunteers.
``Plus, he's not well enough to come home,'' she said.
She's helping sell tickets, which are $5 each. The organizers printed 1,000.
``I sold 100 without hardly batting an eye,'' Daughtrey said.
Better get yours fast. They're going like - well, like hot cakes. MEMO: Tickets at $5 each to the benefit breakfast for Bobby Bradshaw are
available at the Golden Corral, Armory Drive, Franklin, or by calling
David Bradshaw, 562-2455, or Gracie Foster, 562-5441, or either of them
at 569-4321 at work.
ILLUSTRATION: Bobby Bradshaw
Awaiting transplant
KEYWORDS: TRANSPLANT by CNB