Harley Davidson of Dalton is asking motorcyclists in the area to again rev their engines for Chickamauga's Anna Haney Aug. 27. The 19-year-old is in remission from cancer, and a benefit ride that day will help pay her medical bills.
This is the second ride Harley Davidson of Dalton has organized for Haney, who is suffering from sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that attacks certain tissues like bone or muscle, in this case the connective tissue surrounding nerves in her leg. The last ride raised $4,000.
Lori Haney, Anna's aunt, said all proceeds will go to help pay Anna's medical bills.
"Anna will be in Texas for two more weeks," Lori Haney said. "Then, she will come back to Chattanooga to do physical therapy. She had a 10-hour surgery and surgeons were able to get the whole tumor out. Surgeons put muscles from her back into her thigh, so she has to learn to walk again."
Revelators Riding Club and Forsaken Motorcycle Club are joining forces for the benefit Poker Run. The cost is $15 for the first hand of cards and $5 for each additional hand.
The ride starts at Mountain Creek Harley Davidson in Dalton, and riders must arrive at the last stop - Lee & Gordon's Mills - by 4:30 p.m.
A pancake breakfast for $5 a plate will be served at 8:30 a.m. at Lee & Gordon's Mills, followed by lunch at 1 p.m. for another $5 per plate.
"At Lee & Gordon's Mills all day long there will be a silent auction, a bake sale and a 50/50 drawing and a YETI cooler to be raffled off," said Lori Haney of Chickamauga. "Tickets for the cooler are $10 per ticket. We would like to pre-sell raffle tickets for people that can't be there. Contact Randy Haney at 423-421-3556 or Facebook message 'Hearts and Hands for Anna' to buy tickets."
Lori Haney said it will be at least another year before Anna can go back to work, and she is thankful for the community's outpouring of support for her daughter.
For example, Choo Choo Barbecue in Chickamauga sold $10 plates of barbecue one day and donated proceeds to help Anna Haney with her medical bills.
"She's been fighting this [neurofibrosarcoma] since the last week of November 2015," her mother said, adding it took a plastic surgeon six or seven hours to reconstruct Anna Haney's leg muscles. "Because the tumor was on the nerve it made it very painful for her. I was beside myself when I got the text she was cancer-free. She can't wait to get home. Doctors said everything looks great and she's standing a little more every day."
Patrick Green, Anna Haney's fiance, said she wants to be able to walk down the aisle when they get married.
"Erlanger talked about amputation, but MD Anderson said her leg could be saved," he said, referencing the specialized cancer center in Texas where she's been for the past several weeks. "Anna wants to beat it and motivate someone else to beat cancer later."
To learn more about how to help, search for "Hearts and Hands for Anna" or "Team Anna Haney" on Facebook. Also, bank accounts called "Hearts and Hands for Anna" have been set up in her honor at SouthCrest Bank in Chickamauga and at Capital Bank in Chickamauga, so people can donate.