ORGAN DONOR MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN AND AFTER LIFE

By Judy Normand/of the commercial staff

Wharton Allen Cheesman, in his lifetime, was said to have never met a stranger. Now, in death, his legacy of love, enthusiasm and passion for life continues in the bodies and spirits of several people he will never know.

Born on Oct. 4, 1961, at Pine Bluff, Cheesman’s life was cut tragically short when, on June 17, he and a friend, Dewayne Pierce, were bicycling on Dollarway Road at White Hall just before sunrise. The two were struck by an F-150 pickup truck just south of the Pine Bluff Arsenal.

Pierce survived, but Cheesman died six days later, on June 23.

Cheesman, “a funny, kind, generous Christian man who loved people,” was also an organ donor and his heart, two kidneys and liver were harvested, according to his wife, Susan. His liver and one kidney went to a “friend, of a friend, of a friend”; his heart was received by a 48-year-old mother of six in San Antonio, Texas; and his other kidney went to a 46-year-old Arkansas woman.

“We’ve actually met the woman in Little Rock who received Allen’s liver and kidney. The lady called us at the three-month anniversary of his death and on Oct. 4, which happened to be Allen’s birthday, we met her at the ARORA (Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency) picnic at Burns Park at North Little Rock. It was wonderful,” Susan said, adding that the meeting was a bit unusual only because ARORA will usually require a waiting period of at least one year before contact between the recipients and the organ donor’s family. But, because the lady knew so many people who knew the Cheesmans, it seemed the right thing to do at the right time, Susan said.

Dr. Sam Cheesman, Allen’s father and practicing veterinarian at Oak Park Animal Hospital at Pine Bluff, said it had been an emotional, but positive experience meeting the woman.

“We all hugged and I told her, ‘you’re part mine, now!’” Dr. Cheesman said. He was also moved by the woman’s testimony at this year’s Vertical Fest at Pine Bluff, which was dedicated to Cheesman.

“She let people know how much it meant for people to be organ donors,” Dr. Cheesman said. “It was really beautiful.”

Dr. Cheesman said he’d also learned that the Little Rock recipient had been second on the transplant list. She was only able to receive the organs because the person first on the list had had car trouble on the way to the hospital and, he said, “They couldn’t wait. She got the call and was there within 30 minutes.”

The family has not met the other recipients, but have spoken with the staff from ARORA and learned that the woman in Texas, who received Allen’s heart, is doing fine.

“She has six children,” Dr. Cheesman said, “including a 6-year-old.” Melanie Cheesman, Allen and Susan’s daughter, is also 6.

Melanie and the other two Cheesman children, Will, 14, and Michelle, 12, Susan said, are holding it together.

“Our 6-year-old only started talking about her dad about a month ago. She wouldn’t do it before that because she didn’t want to upset me. But, they all did six weeks of Christian counseling and now go only once a month. So far, there have been no red flags,” she said.

Susan, remembering her husband, said he invariably woke up every morning with “a mission for the day,” and had cloned many little sayings, like “every second counts,” “instant forgiveness” and, in a whispered voice, “go the distance,” his mantra during training for a marathon in 1989.

Always an athlete, Cheesman lifted weights, bicycled and ran often and, in 1990, ran Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn. He was also the enthusiastic instigator of a new sport, the “Pelaton,” an event consisting of bicyclists from Pine Bluff and White Hall who’d meet on Saturday mornings for a 20- to 30-mile bike ride. The Pelaton riders participated in the 62-mile ride sponsored by the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI) in Little Rock a few days before the accident.

“After that race, he was on top of the world,” Susan said, having finished the ride with his childhood friend, Alan Stone, of Conway.

Susan, her father-in-law, Allen’s sister Bea Cheesman of Pine Bluff and sister Cara Barrentine and her husband, Jeff, of Dahlonega, Ga., have all been on the receiving end of a tremendous outpouring of love and support and have been touched by thousands of letters, cards, prayers, flowers, calls and online messages from Allen’s friends — people “privileged,” they say, to have known him.

A friend from Fayetteville, Stephen Triplett, mentioned Allen’s eternal optimism, his upbeat take on life and his caring spirit. He also remembered Allen’s penchant for assigning nicknames to everyone and his love of reading, even at a young age. One book, Triplett said, was “Zig” Ziglar’s “See You at the Top.”

“Allen is now at the top — with our lord and Savior — and I’m sure that when he stood before our maker, that he already had a loving nickname for our God Almighty. Rest in peace, my brother, and I only hope to ‘see you at the top’ one sweet day,” Triplett wrote to his friend, online, at caringbridge.org.

Police reports at the time of the accident indicated that Allen and his friend were riding bicycles without adequate reflectors or lights and that the driver of the truck “just wasn’t able to see them.” Noel Foster, chief of police at White Hall, said no citations were issued and that “it was just a tragic accident.”

Recently, the Tour de Bluff Bike Fun Day was dedicated to Allen, who had been a past participant in the event. A memorial presentation to his family kicked off the day’s cycling on the 211/2-mile course from Pine Bluff to Altheimer and back.

Tour de Bluff, according to its organizers, was planned for people of all ages to learn the safe way to enjoy bicycling.

Novel T’s Custom Screen Printing and Ad Specialty Gallery and ARORA were hosts for Tour de Bluff. Other sponsors included Woodus Works, Sheilah’s Design, the Pine Bluff Police Department, Pine Bluff Fire Department, UAPB-TV and KUAP radio.