THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 17, 1995 TAG: 9504150031
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
FOR SOMEBODY weighing 325 pounds who looks like a hotel refrigerator wearing a ball cap, Bubba Nicklin seems an unlikely angel.
But that's what everyone I've talked with lately calls him. Even though he seldom wanders more than chipping distance from a beer. And wears T-shirts printed with: University of Bubba . . . Tappa Kegga Daya.''
Bubba is the proprietor of Bubba's Beach Club on Laskin Road in Virginia Beach. When I talked with him last year, he was raising money for his golf tournament at Stumpy Lake.
The first annual Bubba's Beach Club Spring Classic raised $10,000 - all of it used to equip a comfort lounge for patients in the fourth-floor oncology ward at Virginia Beach General Hospital.
Bubba said it was his way of repaying the hospital's staff for the care and compassion he received there as a patient.
He had been healthy until the summer of 1992. One morning, he woke up with sharp pains in his neck and arm. ``It felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife,'' he recalled.
A long series of chemotherapy treatments followed. He lost his hair during those treatments and was wearing a ball cap to cover his baldness when I talked with him in February 1994. ``It's been so long since I had hair that I've forgotten what it's like.''
That was a happy time for Bubba. You could see it in his wide smile - so broad it might have been drawn on a comic face fingered in the frost coating a beer pitcher.
He had every right to smile. Lots of folks were signing up to play in the golf tournament. And he was undergoing what was expected to be his last chemotherapy treatment.
It really seemed as though Bubba had beaten the bone cancer that had given him so much pain.
Not so.
When Bubba was examined by doctors last December, they found his cancer had returned. And, two weeks ago, he was admitted to Virginia Beach General Hospital for treatment of pneumonia.
Bubba has handled all this with his usual high spirits. ``He's the same old Bubba,'' his sister, B.J., joked. ``He spends his time watching television and harassing his family, friends and nurses.''
Despite his courage, Bubba is very ill. The family says he will be leaving soon for St. Vincent's Hospital in Los Angeles for some experimental treatments. Insurance won't cover all of the expense.
This year, proceeds from the Bubba's Beach Club Spring Classic - on May 15 - will go toward his mounting medical expenses.
Inspired by Bubba's example, a group of friends - who call themselves Bubba's Angels - have placed collection bottles at various businesses, asked for tournament donations and are planning an auction.
The entry fee for the golf tournament is $300 for a foursome. Businesses can place an advertising sign at one of the holes for $100. Golfers who participate will receive carts, food and drink, and be eligible for many raffle prizes. Awards will go to the top finishes. A pool table donated by Mustang Amusements will be given away to any golfer scoring a hole-in-one.
Nancy Porter, co-owner of Howard's Pawn Shop, has donated a diamond ring from the shop, valued at about $2,000, which will be raffled away.
``I helped raise money for a little boy who had leukemia last year,'' Porter said. ``Bubba helped us more than anybody.'' The Virginia Beach Fraternal Order of Police has offered to sponsor the ring raffle, she said.
Porter mentioned that Bubba's Angels also want to hold an auction to raise money for Bubba's Cancer Fund. They are now seeking a sponsor and merchants willing to donate merchandise.
B.J. said the family is grateful for what the Angels are doing to help meet her brother's medical expenses. If any money is left after those expenses, they would like for it to go toward creating a cancer information center at Virginia Beach General.
She also mentioned that Bubba's father, Joe, has shaved his head so that he can be just as bald as his son.
Contributions can be mailed to the Bubba Cancer Fund, 404 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, Va. 23451. Golfers wishing to play in the tournament and others willing to contribute in some way can phone 427-6489, or fax 468-8486 for information. by CNB