: Today In History · Horoscope 45°

Login · Register |  Contact Us · Site Help |  Place an Ad · 

Subscriber Services Home Delivery Gift Subscriptions Mail Subscriptions Bill Pay Address Change Delivery Issues Vacation Stop EZ Pay Single Copies

Ambitious fundraiser for Roy Henson

He's getting out of his wheelchair to walk for Relay

By DONNA HICKMAN
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Monday, August 25, 2008

“Everybody in the county knows Roy Henson,” says his friend, Tom Gibson.

Indeed, Henson would be hard to forget.

An avid music fan, he has a collection of tunes he shares at Mineral Area College events and other community activities. A sports fan, he often can be found at local games cheering his favorite team. He has a quick wit and a ready smile. A graduate of North County High School and MAC, he also attended Mizzou and works as Assessment Room Supervisor at MAC. Legendary University of Missouri Basketball Coach Norm Stewart called him his hero.

Oh, and by the way, Henson has cerebral palsy and has spent his life in a wheelchair.

He’s hoping to parlay his local “fame” into a big bankroll. He plans to walk on Sept. 5 and he’s hoping people will pay him to do it. The money will go to the Relay For Life of St. Francois County.

“I have trained to walk distances before. In 1992 at the University of Missouri, I was entered in a 60-yard dash for intramural games because my floor needed points,” Henson writes on his myspace page. “This crazy idea led to 3 weeks of training in Hudson Hall to finishing the race. Since then, I had discovered that an electric wheelchair is a much easier way to get around. I basically abandoned all leg exercises and was complacent with using my chair.”

In February, Henson says he stood up without any assistance for the first time and that motivated him to start to strengthen his legs again.

“I was trying to walk one evening at the Central football field and I had on a Relay T-shirt,” Henson said. “When I fell, I started looking at the shirt, then the field, then the shirt again, and it was one of those, ‘What if I...’ moments.”

The Central School Board has given him approval to walk immediately following their football game with St. Vincent on Sept. 5. Athletic Director Chad Bradley says Henson is a fixture at every home football and basketball game at Central.

“I think it’s a very neat thing he’s doing and I think a lot of the fans will probably stay around to watch him,” said Bradley.

So, Henson is in training. He is doing leg presses in a weight room. He practices a couple of times each week at the football field. Gibson has seen him and says he’s quite inspiring.

“It’s unbelievable when you watch him,” said Gibson. “It really wears him out. But he inspires me. If you really try, there are lots of things you can do.”

Friends tell Henson they think it’s a great idea. He’s offering people the chance to pledge how much they’ll give per yard.

“My goal is the 50 yard line and that is where I wanted to cap it off at because I wanted to give people a fair estimate on what they would be  pledging as a maximum amount,” said Henson. He’d like to raise $10,000. People can pledge, or just send a check to him at MAC made out to the American Cancer Society. The address is: Mineral Area College, c/o Roy Henson, P. O. Box 1000, Park Hills, Mo. 63601.

Henson said when he was younger, he was active, playing backyard sports on his knees. While he’s always been in a wheelchair, he has always found ways to stay active. He hopes to draw attention to the Relay and to raise awareness that people can accomplish almost anything if they have the will to do it.

To find out more about Roy Henson and his unique fundraiser, go to www.myspace.com/royfor50yards.

The Relay For Life has been held annually in St. Francois County for 11 years. The event held in July raised $189,500 to fund services to patients and research a cure for the Cancer Society.

Donna Hickman is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact her at 431-2010, ext. 138 or at dhickman@dailyjournalonline.com.

Top of Page · Archives · Site Map · Home Page · Yellow Pages · Contact Us · RSS Feeds · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use

Copyright © Daily Journal Online. All rights reserved. Certain portions © Lee Enterprises and the Associated Press.