In Around West Virginia: a 12-year-old boy completes cancer treatments, a Randolph County man describes saving a trooper, a fifth-grade student worries about his home country of Syria, and more.
n A 12-year-old Mason County boy finished his last cancer treatment this month, according to the Point Pleasant Daily Register. Chayston Handley, of Leon, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April of 2015. While the tumor is gone, he was recently admitted to the hospital for an abnormally low level of neutrophils, a type of white blood cells.
Chayston, who was inspired by a childhood cancer survivors' bell at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, encouraged his parents to purchase a similar bell for childhood cancer survivors to ring at Hoops Family Children's Hospital. On March 3, he was the first to ring it.
"Never, ever take your time with your loved ones for granted," his mother, Kendra Joslin, said. "Life can change in the blink of an eye. Time and memories with family are priceless. Don't get upset with your kids over little things. Instead, be thankful that your kids are in good health and you have another day with them."
n Community Action of Southeastern West Virginia (CASEWV) will receive $217,366 of the $1.5 million in substance abuse treatment funding Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin recently announced. The Princeton Times reports that the agency plans to open a recovery center with room for 12 women in Bluefield within the next two months.
n A Mountain Messenger reporter interviewed Elise Keaton, outreach and education coordinator with the Greenbrier River Watershed Association. Keaton is one of the people organizing against several proposed natural gas pipelines in the state based on the environmental threat.
"We know that the watersheds they want to cross with some of these lines are some of the last pristine water resources in our state," she said. "And yet, nobody stands up and says that."
n A Randolph County man described jumping in a creek to save a drowning trooper last week. Joe Austin, of Mill Creek, told MetroNews that Trooper J.J. Cornelius repeatedly thanked him for saving the trooper's life. Cornelius had attempted to apprehend Nathaniel Wegman, who was wanted on a burglary charge out of Indiana. State Police said the two got in a fight and Cornelius hit his head on a rock.
n Zain, a fifth-grade student who lives in South Charleston, thinks a lot about Syria, his home country. He told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that if the civil war in Syria would end, he would be happy. The reporter agreed not to use his last name so as not to draw attention to the family.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.