LUMBERTON, NC (WBTW) – Residents in Lumberton who have dealt with cancer and have a dog in their life participated in the American Cancer Society’s Bark for Life Saturday morning.
The bark for life is a noncompetitive walk for dogs and their owners to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer.
Kenneth Wargas goes to the Gibson Cancer Center in Lumberton once a month for treatment, along with his 165 pound, 11 year-old Anatolian Shepherd named Sasquatch.
“I have what they call C-L-L. It’s Leukemia that’s chronic and it always comes back,” said Wargras.
Wargras doesn’t have an immune system and he says he also has breathing problems. He and Sasquatch has a lifelong companionship because Sasquatch is trained to assist in just about every aspect of his life.
“He seems to sense more things that I sense. Sometimes I feel like I can do anything but my body tells me once I start, you can’t do it and he knows in advance that I can’t do it,” mentioned Wargras.
“What a great way for the community to show that we support them, that we understand the struggle that they are going through and we appreciate this bond this creature has given you to help feel your well back up,” said Catherine Gaines with the Gibson Cancer Center in Lumberton.
It’s a bond Wargras says he knows too well…
“The only happiness or one of the happy things besides being married to my wife is these animals giving you so much devotion and love. It’s unbelievable they make you want to continue on and get up every day just to do something for them because they’ll do anything they can for you,” Wargras said.
The American Cancer Society projects that there will be 50,000 new cases of cancer in North Carolina this year, 700 of them in Robeson County, according to the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics.
