Sweet Child of Mine

Heath went to be with the Lord at 2:25AM this morning. His birthday is 2/25. He was very peaceful at the time. He had his mom and stepdad, Karis and Jim, and his dad and stepmom, Gary and Peggy, on each side of his bed. His brother Colt and other family members were also in the room. The last thing that Heath said, which was earlier, was "I need to change my tunes". Karis believes he is now playing for Jesus and we all known Jesus is enjoying Heath's music.

We are all doing well. Besides not having much sleep, Karis is doing well. She has shed a lot of tears and will shed more. She is a very strong, amazing woman with a big heart. She fought for her son's life as hard as anyone could imagine. She is at peace knowing where Heath is now. Vera Jo is making sure we have plenty to eat tonight. We have some amazing friends that we know we can call at anytime if we need something.

He was surrounded by people that loved him very, very much. He and our family have been so blessed to receive the support and love from our family and friends. Our churches and employers have been tremendous with their support and understanding.

At this time we do not know the details of the service but we are planning the Celebration Party now and we want it to be a party that Heath would have wanted.

Thank you all and God bless,
Jim

Special Prayer Request from Karis for Heath

I do want to post this request here also because of the importance. This is a journal entry that Karis asked me to put on the Caring Bridge site this morning, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/heathsammons.

This is Karis's husband. Karis wanted me to post a request that she wants to happen at 4PM today. She is on her way to church right now because she felt an overwhelming need to be there this morning.

Last night she had an inspiration or vision, she wasn't quite sure how to explain it. At 4 PM today she wants our house surrounded by people in prayer for Heath. She said it could be 5 people or 500 people as long as the house was surrounded. If you see this request and can't be here then she wants you to be in prayer for Heath at 4PM from where ever you are. She is very emotional this morning but I could see that this inspiration lifted her.

Heath has an amazing amount of faith that he will be healed. On several occasions he has asked people to pray for him but at this time he is not aware of this request. I'm not sure but I believe Karis may just want to fill this entire house with that kind of faith. So spread the word and join us all in prayer for Heath at 4PM today.

God bless you all,
Jim (Heath's stepdad)

Visit the Caring Bridge site that Karis setup

Please visit the Caring Bridge site that Karis recently setup. It is much more user friendly for her and has some nice added features. You can sign the guestbook as well as register to receive journal update notifications, which is something I wanted to do here but can't. I've been trying to get her to post on this site but the Caring Bridge is a much better place for her to keep everyone updated. I will also keep this blog going but may just post links back to the Caring Bridge site. Thanks Jill for getting Karis on that site.

Here is a link to the site, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/heathsammons.

Congratulations and Thank You

We want to congratulate Patsy Skinner. Her ticket was drawn on September 20th. I believe she was out of town but Melody contacted her later that night.

We want to thank everyone that contributed from those that bought tickets to Melody and Ralph for organizing the event. Melody sent me this flier that was sent out to those that bought tickets and I wanted to post it here.

Car Drawing Update: we still need to sell 50 tickets

The drawing for the car is this Saturday and we still have approximately 50 more tickets to sell. We have to cover the cost of the car so it's important that we sell the rest of the tickets before the drawing. I voted to delay the drawing but that's not going to happen. If you know someone that wants a ticket but hasn't got one then have them give Melody a call at 941-756-2847. You don't have to be present to win. Thanks to all those that have bought tickets.

Surgery Update 9/10/08

Some of you may not be aware of this but Heath's been having a lot more pain and has lost mobility of his legs. Last night he was admitted at Moffitt so they could do an MRI and try to get his pain under control. The MRI showed that the tumors are growing into or around the spine which seems to be what has been causing the intense pain and problems with his legs.

Karis and Gary talked with Heath about his options and they decided to allow the doctors to operate on Heath's back to remove the part of the tumor that is encroaching on the spine. The doctors said that the surgery went well but he is in a lot of pain. He will be in ICU overnight and hopefully be comfortable enough to be moved to a room tomorrow. He will have a couple weeks of recovery time from the surgery. The doctors said that he was definitely strong enough to endure the surgery which is no doubt due to the alternative treatments he has been getting as well as his diet. They made it clear that this is just to make him more comfortable and to help minimize his pain. This may also help him get mobility back in his legs. We are still praying for a total cure and total healing of Heath's body. So please join us in praying for these things.

Tampa Bay Quarter Midget Racing Association is sponsering a charity race for Heath

On Saturday September 6, the Tampa Bay Quarter Midget Racing Association is sponsoring a charity race for Heath. Proceeds from the race will go to the Heath Sammons Medical Fund. The Tampa Bay Quarter Midget Racing Association is affiliated with Quarter Midgets of America, a youth racing organization for kids 5 to 16 years old. Here is a link to there website, http://www.tampabayqmra.com/tampabay/default.html.

The following is posted on their website:

"Charity Race...
The Charity Race is coming soon! Saturday September, 6 our quarter midget drivers will be racing for a young man named Heath Sammons. Heath is the son of Manatee County Sheriff's Lieutenant/Bomb Commander Gary Sammons. Heath has osteosarcoma and it has now spread to his lungs. Heath's condition has been deemed inoperable and he has become chemo resistant. Heath's parents are doing all they can to keep their son alive and have turned to alternative medications which are not covered by insurance and as we all know is very expensive. You can visit http://www.heathsupdate.blogspot.com/ to learn more on Heath's condition. There is a fund called Heath Sammons Medical Fund at Manatee River Community Bank which is where the proceeds will go. We are hoping that Heath will feel up to coming to the event and meeting the kids and dropping the first green flag of the day! Registration fees for the event will be $30 per car and don't forget this is a double points race! I will let you know if we are going to still do the covered dish soon. This will be an awards race! Let's make this an awesome race and raise some money for Heath."

Chad Geary works with Gary on the bomb squad and he has a son that will be racing. His name is Seth. So we would like to invite everyone to come out to the race to help support Heath and to cheer for Seth.

For track information and directions, you can visit there website at http://www.tampabayqmra.com/tampabay/Track.htm