Published: April 27, 2008 11:44 pm            

Lee Ward: Man did leave an impact: 4/28/08

A week ago Sunday, we printed a story I wrote about Jeff Cooksey, a lifelong Ashland resident who was dying of pancreatic cancer.

Cooksey called my office wanting to talk to someone about his condition. He told me he didn’t know if what he had to say was worth a story, but he wanted to tell me anyway. If I thought I could “make something out of it,” he said he would be glad. If not, he would understand.

When I met him, I’m sure I was visibly disturbed by his appearance: He was pale, gaunt and his skin was so dry it looked as though he were covered with a fine powder.

“I’m sorry about the way I look,” he said, shaking my hand. I was embarrassed my expression made him feel he had to apologize for his appearance, but I couldn’t hide my surprise at how ill he seemed.

He was, in fact, very ill. His doctors had given him only five months to live.

Cooksey and I talked for close to an hour and his message was simple: Wake up before it’s too late.

He said he took his health and his faith for granted until he was diagnosed with a terminal disease, but that diagnosis woke him up to the blessings in his life.

He said although he loved Ashland, he’d never really done anything for the town, he’d never given back to the community. He said he hoped that sharing the story of his terminal illness and how he began to appreciate life when he was close to death would cause others to start appreciating what they have before they come face to face with their own mortality. He hoped it would cause others to start living life more fully every day, and sooner, while there was more time to enjoy it.

The day after the story about Jeff Cooksey was published, he died.

Since then, I have learned a lot more about him.

He was a dedicated basketball referee who went above and beyond to call games for area children and to be fair with them.

“He never wanted to cheat a kid,” one sports fan said.

He had a good and kind personality that made him well-loved by everyone whose path he crossed.

“Nobody didn’t like Jeff,” one of his former classmates told me.

Telling his story at the end did mean a lot to a variety of people. I heard from people I didn’t know and who didn’t know Cooksey, people who had lost someone to cancer and who could relate to the things he said. I heard from people who were touched by the feelings he shared and who just wanted to send him a card.

I don’t think he realized how much impact his story and his life had on readers, but I can see that it did. I’m glad he at least got to see the story in print and I hope he began to realize how much he really did give to his community.

LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.

        

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