Run the Race with Rikki

Rikki Dunson was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bladder Cancer just a few months ago and  has been through four rounds of chemotherapy.  He currently is laying in a hospital bed with a feeding tube because chemotherapy has created frustrating complications.  Rikki says that this is just a bump in the road.  He is excited to get back to his normal life because through this ordeal he has gained a greater love for his wife and family.  Rikki's incredible outlook, despite these dire circumstances, doesn't surprise me.  You see, Rikki is a quadriplegic.  A football injury in high school rendered him paralyzed from the neck down with very limited use of his upper extremities.  His bladder catheter of 35 years created a rare and aggressive form of Bladder Cancer.  Due to Rikki being incapable of taking care of himself through these complications with cancer, Nykki, Rikki's amazing wife, has had to quit her job in order to be at Rikki’s side full time.   

I've been blessed to meet a lot of successful people in my life.  There is no one that I admire more than Rikki Dunson.   The simplest daily tasks, that we don't think about, Rikki musters  up the strength to have to  overcome.  For 35 years, he has been doing this, every minute of every day.  I remember the first time I watched him take five minutes to slide into his car seat, break down his wheelchair, and store it so that he can drive himself using hand pedals.   It was not easy for him.  He had to really concentrate and focus.  Then I thought how he had to do this every day to go to and from work for 25 years to support his family.  He made no excuses and I never heard him complain.  He was determined to really live.  Simply watching Rikki's life and how he pushed through has impacted mine tremendously.  He  lives the life of a man who "runs with endurance the race set before us" {Hebrews 12:1-2}.  In this moment in Rikki's life, when he is up against cancer, he needs US  to help him run.

The Dunsons are encouraged that the chemotherapy has been effective in slowing down and shrinking the cancer tumors.  They will know in a week the true effectiveness of chemotherapy.  With Rikki unable to work or care for himself and  Nykki having to care for Rikki full time, the Dunsons have no income to support themselves and their family.   This is out of necessity, not by choice.  The road is long and expensive.  The funds raised will first provide for the families’ needs until both  Nykki and Rikki can get back to work, and secondly, to help cover medical bills.  Our greatest desire is for you to pray for healing for Rikki.  We also invite you to join us in offering financial support for this incredible family.  Our hope is for an outpouring of love and support for a man who has persevered through the worst this life could throw at him and stands strong in the midst of it.

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