By Tom O'Connor, UNMC Public Affairs
Omaha, NE – When Bob Husz, of Council Bluffs underwent his first month of chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2004 at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, he found himself emotionally down. At his wife Jane's suggestion, he sought a task that would allow him to keep a positive goal in mind during his treatment.
Husz bought a 1952 vintage Ford 8N tractor as a "fix-up" project. Restoring the old tractor became a symbol of his journey to becoming cancer free. "After a chemotherapy treatment, I would be sick for three days," he said. "My wife kept pushing me to go out there and work on the tractor, so I would work on it little by little. It took me seven months to complete it."
The tractor is now in parade mint condition, and Bob Husz will be at the wheel as he begins a 5-day, 270-mile journey across the state of Iowa to raise awareness and funding for cancer research. Husz wants to encourage others who have tractors or who have battled cancer or know someone who has suffered from the disease to join him on the town-to-town tractor caravan along State Highway 92. The journey begins Monday, Aug. 7, in Council Bluffs and winds up on Friday, Aug. 11, in Grandview, Iowa, on the eastern end of the state.
The trip will be divided into several stops where drivers can join Husz in support, including Griswold, Greenfield, Winterset, Indianola, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, Sigourney, Washington and Kilpeck Landing. The journey starts at the boat ramps at Lake Manawa State Park.
Many friends and family will be present to wish Husz well on his journey as well as the physician who treated Husz, Julie M. Vose, M.D., section chief of Hematology/Oncology at UNMC, and Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan. For more information, you may contact the UNMC at (402) 559-4650.