By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
“Lucky,” a beloved pig statue at the Bar-B-Que Shack in Jacksonville, was taken away recently and is being held for ransom — donations — to raise money for breast-cancer research and awareness.
Gary and Pat Green, owners of the Bar-B-Que Shack, were told by the captors if they want to see Lucky again, they would have to come up with at least $5,000 in ransom money. The pig has been missing since June.
Pat Green said she is partial to Lucky. The last time she saw Lucky was on June 24 inside the restaurant.
“Lucky has been with us since 1997,” Green said.
“He was given to me as a gift from Georgia (Lewis), my sister,” she said.
In the past, the Greens have taken Lucky to Jacksonville’s Christmas parades and to the Jacksonville Business Expo. But his permanent residence is at the Bar-B-Que Shack. Green said he’s dressed up during Christmas in a Santa suit but he is usually spotted in his country cowboy outfit.
Lucky has been seen and photographed at several area businesses this month.
“We hope for a safe return for Lucky. He is a sentimental heirloom,” Green said.
If the Greens can come up with the ransom money, Lucky will be returned unharmed. The “pigknappers” agreed to donate the money collected to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation in Lewis’ name.
Lewis, 40, who lives in North Pulaski County is battling a breast cancer type known as triple negative. She said it is an aggressive cancer, named just a few years ago. It lacks the common cellular characteristics that fuel other forms of breast cancer, therefore it is a challenge for physicians to treat the cancer. It requires a combination of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
Lewis said the cancer is found in young women. It is known to spead to the lungs, brain, bones, ovaries and GI track.
Tomorrow, Lewis will have her fourth chemotherapy treatment of five.
“I receive a three-week regimen of chemotherapy. It takes me down for two weeks, and for one week, I get to be me,” she said.
Lewis had a blood transfusion last week and said she felt fantastic.
“I have renewed faith in humanity. When I had chemo, I had 75 get-well or thinking-of- you cards. They allow me to remember that I’m not in this alone,” she said.
She discovered the tumor while she was getting ready for work and felt a lump on her left breast. Three weeks later, on Feb. 12, she was diagnosed with cancer. She had a lumpectomy in March.
She said after getting a call from her surgical oncologist, “All I could think of…life as I know it… would never be the same.”
Lewis said, “Today, I thank God every day, because I stopped doing things I did and refocused. I’m a better person because of it.”
After her final chemotherapy treatment in August, she will have six weeks of radiation.
“It’s been a long road. How-ever, you have to appreciate the journey. There is a spiritual growth, a time of reflection that brings you back to your core values,” Lewis said.
Lewis was manager of the Bar-B-Que Shack from 1998 to 2002 at its former West Main Street location. She went back to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in cytotechnology from UAMS in 2006.
She is a cell specialist. Lewis worked in marketing for home- infusion therapy service.
Patrick Thomas, owner of Arkansas Outdoor Power Equip-ment, is celebrating 10 years in business. He wanted a way to give back to the community to celebrate. Thomas said he was thinking about helping a charitable cause and was considering Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
While speaking with the Greens about ideas on a fundraiser, he learned about Lewis and her battle with breast cancer. From there the campaign to find Lucky was born.
So far $500 in ransom donation money has been collected.
If $20,000 is collected, Thomas will shave his head when Lucky is returned to the Bar-B-Que Shack.
An update on where Lucky has been recently spotted can be seen on the website www.arkansas-ope.com/HELP_FIND_LUCKY.html.
Cash contributions toward Lucky’s release from his captors can be made at these Jacksonville locations:
The Bar-B-Que Shack, 1000 S. Hwy 161; Kwik Kopy, 17 Crestview Plaza; Tax Shelter, 1310 John Harden Drive; Arkansas Outdoor Power Equipment, 617 S. First St. and Centennial Bank, 10 Crestview Drive.
