Channing Proctor (right, at left) is urging friends and community members to participate in Bridging the Gap Through Baseball in conjunction with March 31’s Cooper River Bridge Run. Photographs (left to right) by Joshua Drake & courtesy of Channing Proctor
February 22, 2012
Healthy Strides
Charleston Miracle League founder Channing Proctor turns his cancer diagnosis into a personal fundraising challenge
WriTten by Lauren Brooks Johnson
As founder of the Charleston Miracle League (CML) and PlayToday! Foundation, Channing Proctor has made sizable steps for the Lowcountry’s special needs population. (And with an athletic 6-foot, 8-inch frame, this community visionary knows how to make great strides.) But last December, doctors dealt Proctor a terrifying diagnosis that threatened to stop him in his tracks: Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Now, the 43-year-old faces six more chemotherapy treatments over the next 12 weeks, plus all the side effects—weakness, changes in appetite, and higher susceptibility to infection, to name a few. But this spirited father of three has stepped up his positive attitude. “Hodgkin’s lymphoma carries an 85 percent cure rate,” he explains. “Doctors tell me that lymphoma is the best kind of cancer to get, and I always shoot for the best!”
Indeed, he does. Proctor plans to complete the Cooper River Bridge Run on March 31 in order to raise money for CML and PlayToday!, an annual fundraiser known as Bridging the Gap Through Baseball. And when friends ask how they can help him in his fight against cancer, he urges them to join him in this athletic endeavor. The goal: to cross the finish line with an incredible $10,000 in donations (he’s so far raised $465).
“Even walking is going to be tough,” he admits. “To be overly cautious, I’m going to procure a wheelchair.” He’s already procured some top-notch teammates—Mayor Joe Riley and several of Proctor’s fellow Citadel alums plan to join him on the race course. All of the money raised will go towards funding the summer construction of a first-of-its-kind outdoor therapy and recreation area beside the Charleston Miracle League field in West Ashley. And with that finish, both Proctor and the nonprofits he loves will be one step closer to a healthier life.
Donors and walk participants who give or raise at least $250 will be honored on a plaque when the TherapyPlay! Module opens next fall. To donate to Channing Proctor’s Bridging the Gap Through Baseball effort, click here.
To join him during the Cooper River Bridge Run on March 31, email channingproctor@gmail.com.
To follow his posts on Facebook, send him a friend request at www.facebook.com/ChanningProctor.
For more information on the Charleston Miracle League, click here and on the PlayToday! Foundation, click here.
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