Charise Thompson

Many of you know Charise Thompson ("Mama" or "Reece Riot") through her overwhelming support of all of us and the sport we share, ROLLER DERBY. For those that don't, she is on our Coaching Staff and is a Volunteer, Advocate, Supporter and Proponent for Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Equality, and issues of Women/Children. She gives so much to so many - love, support, advice, tender words, comfort or anything else we need, though she lives on a small Disability Income. She is a fighter, and has never given up on any of us. She is the most deserving person, and now we need to give back because she needs us. Charise is wife to a Disabled/Retired Veteran (32 years), mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, daughter, sister, niece and cousin.

In 1981 Mama was kidnapped by 6 men while changing a tire, raped, tortured, beaten and left for dead. But she wasn't dead ... she crawled on 13 broken bones, spitting out teeth and found help. Weeks in the hospital, 31 units of blood, surgeries to put her back together and she kept fighting, determined this would not define her. She thrived and volunteered for the Crisis Center.

After moving to Cheyenne, she was an Advocate for Safehouse. In 1990 she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C (HCV) from the blood transfusions. She did the first human trials with Interferon which left her almost comatose but she wouldn’t quit. It nearly killed her and advanced the disease by leaps and bounds. So she started an online Support Group for HCV. The Interferon triggered strokes, which left her in a wheelchair for 13 years but she got out, and proved them wrong every time they gave her 6 months to live.

In 2010 she rediscovered the sport she participated in and loved in the 70's ... Roller Derby. She became Team Mom the first time she went, and every team we bouted against, she had a new group of "her girls" from the opposing team. She has girls (and guys) across the U.S., Canada and other Countries.

Mamas' disease is cyclic and though the "down cycles" usually lasted 3 or 4 months, this one is at almost a year and she's failing. She has NO immune system and there’s complications from the Interferon and disease (Hepatic Encephalopathy, Temporal Arteritis). Still she plows forward, always there for the hundreds of us that look to her as mama. For many, the only mama they have. She is the most upbeat, positive person I have ever known, smiling through the pain, refusing to be down or negative and always encouraging us to not be either. She’s only going to get worse unless the gets the treatment she needs.

Her kind of HCV is Genotype 3 and the only approved treatment is 24 weeks of Sovaldi and Ribavirin. The Ribavirin is $159.00 a month or $957.00 for the full course. However, even after a grant, the Sovaldi is $28,333,33 a month, or $170,000.00. Her drug coverage is one that will only dispense what's on their formulary and Sovaldi isn’t.

As of today, her copays have been lowered to $22.00 a month for the Ribavirin, and copays on the Sovaldi after everything (medical grants, care programs and individual payments directly to the company) is down to about $8,000.00 which is the new amount we are trying to raise. We need to do this quickly because she’s now scheduled to start treatment this week!! Please help us to help the woman that gives everything and never complains. Please dig deep and contribute what you can for now it is within reach.

Mama once said "When it's my time, nothing is going to change that, but until God reaches down and taps me on the shoulder to tell me it's time, I'll be kicking and screaming and fighting every step of the way. And when that day comes, we'll sit down and talk about it". That’s the spirit of Charise Thompson.