b'Case studySupport in Times of Challenge I Could Breathe EasierDuring George Harrisons cancer journey, support from Cone Health comes in many formsfinancial, medical and emotional.Friends often ask George Harrison if he cried that morning in February 2021, when the doctor at Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville uttered the words cancer, stage 4, inoperable and incurableand was somehow talking about his body, his life. Nope, he tells his friends. No need for tears. Harrison, 43, believed then, as he does now, that faith in God and a positive attitude will overcome these challenges. But you know what did make him cry? When a nurse later told him about Cone Healths Patient Assistance Fund, which hasjust like the oncologists had hoped, giving him the helped him with utility bills and other expenses since he has beenmost precious gift of all: time.out of work.Thats what has kept me so far. Faith, he says. That right there, that just broke me down, says Harrison, aIts just a miracle from God that Im still alive right long time chef at the Holiday Inn Express in Reidsville. I couldnow with my diagnosis.breathe easier.He knows this may sound strange, but hes actually The assistance is made possible by Cone Health Philanthropy,looking forward to the start of his second round of which uses a variety of funds to support patients as they receivechemo, which this time will take only 2hours per medical care. In the last year, 1,110 donors made more than 8,500session. Hes excited to see Annie Penn staff again, giftsa total of $1.5 million to provide transportation, food,who treated him with so much compassion, he emergency assistance and other services to community memberssays. If hes feeling up to it, he plans to bake for in need. them again, loading them down with cheesecakes and lemon bars to show his gratitude. The way For Harrison, it was help that came at the right time. In the weeksthey act towards you, it makes it even better. before his diagnosis, he had developed pain in his lower back,Because you dont get that kind of treatment from something much more severe than a strained muscle. When iteverybody, he says, laughing. became unbearable, he went to Annie Penn, where doctors found a tumor on his spine, and later, more on his lung, beside his heart,If he knew who they were, hed also bake a dessert on his neck and on his hip. I went from living my normal life onefor every donor who helped pay his bills over the day to overnight getting this diagnosis, he says. And, initially yes,past year. Instead, he trusts that God will bless it did scare me. It would scare anybody. He worried about his job,them, just as God has blessed Harrison: To know his family, his future. that there are donorspeople out there willing to help you? And they dont have to? Its awesome.The fear didnt last long. Harrison remembered what his father, a local pastor, said during all the sermons he heard him deliver over the years: Youve got to have faith. Those words sustained himLearn more about the Annie Penn Foundation as he completed his first round of chemotherapy at Annie Penn, where state-of-the-art equipment limited his trips to GreensboroContact Stokes Ann Huntto just two in one year. Those seven-hour chemo treatments,DIRECTOR, ANNIE PENN FOUNDATION which he completed wearing Superman socks, shrunk his tumorsstokes.hunt@conehealth.com or 336.951.4628 20Cone Health Philanthropy'