GRANITE FALLS — Ray Cole logged almost 3,000 miles driving from Granite Falls to Mount Vernon. He made the 74-mile round trip five days a week for eight weeks.
Cole, 68, wasn’t trying to break a record. He was driving a cancer patient from her home to radiation treatments and back. The retired Lake Stevens High School teacher is a volunteer with the American Cancer Society.
The woman successfully completed her treatment.
“I’m waiting for my next patient,” Cole said.
Cole first heard about the volunteer role about a year ago. He saw the notices on a bulletin board in the Granite Falls post office asking for drivers. He was quickly put on a list of volunteers willing to take patients to treatment.
Sometimes patients are sick from chemotherapy or other treatments, but Cole’s patient was up for talking and the two got to know each other.
“He is just a phenomenal caring human being,” said Jerri Wood, a quality of life manager at the Everett office of the American Cancer Society. “To take that amount of time for somebody he didn’t even know because they live in his community.”
Patients from Stanwood to Lake Forest Park might be receiving treatment once a week, some five days a week. They might have a 45-minute drive for a 15-minute appointment or 20-minute drive for a three-hour appointment.
Since Sept. 1, volunteers in Snohomish County have been able to give 333 rides to cancer patients.
“I’m desperate to recruit more drivers,” Wood said.
With public programs being reduced because of budget cuts there is a great need for volunteers. Unemployed people can also sign up and get on the phone list.
Whenever there is a patient in the volunteer’s area, a coordinator will try to match a driver with a patient. If the volunteer is not available then a call is placed to the next person on the list.
Those hoping to become volunteer drivers need to have proof of insurance and a reliable, safe vehicle. They also need to pass a background check.
Wood says that patients are relieved to have someone pick them up and take them to appointments. The mental stress of eight weeks of radiation each day is daunting.
“They are told they have this horrendous disease, then have to figure out how to get there for care,” Wood said. “A lot of times they can’t drive themselves.”
Family members can’t always help every time and using public transportation means waiting for a bus before an appointment then waiting again to come home after treatment.
Even though Cole has driven almost 3,000 miles for just one patient he still waits for his next call. In addition to volunteering for the American Cancer Society, Cole is helping neighbors to build a fence, helps Spanish-speaking people learn English in trade for them helping him with his Spanish, and he helps students with physics and chemistry homework.
“I go to school and the little kids read to me,” Cole said. “They are third graders. That I’d pay for.”
Christina Harper: 425-339-3491 or harper@heraldnet.com
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