Sherry Pollex, NASCAR’s Martin Truex Jr. help ensure fight against cancer endures
Statesville
For all the pomp and circumstance at Statesville Regional Airport on Wednesday night — the flowing ballgowns, the multicolored lights flung to every corner of the converted hangar, the ice sculptures, the catwalk and even the fervent live auction — none of it could touch the allure of Martin Truex Jr. and Sherry Pollex.
And shouldn’t it be that way? After all, Pollex is the one who survived Stage 3 ovarian cancer (twice) and created a foundation to try to extinguish the disease. Truex, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, was by his girlfriend’s side the entire time. And Wednesday, they took a massive step toward ensuring as few people as possible have to endure what they did.
Yes, technically Wednesday’s Catwalk for a Cause in a converted airplane hangar was to raise money toward fighting ovarian and pediatric cancer as well as helping already-afflicted children. That in itself would have been worth commemorating.
Instead, Truex and Pollex announced a $1.2 million donation to Novant Health — where Pollex received treatment — to establish the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation Children’s Emergency Department in Huntersville, as well as the SherryStrong Integrative Medicine Oncology Clinic in Charlotte.
“I can’t believe it,” Pollex said. “I can’t believe my name is going to be on a cancer clinic. It’s just so cool to be a part of that and to know that I can teach other cancer patients all the integrative therapies that I used while I was going through my treatment, because they helped me tremendously.”
And what does it mean to Truex, who has seen firsthand what it’s like for a loved one to battle cancer?
I get chills when I think about it,” he said. “It’s hard to explain. … To be able to help the community right here in North Carolina, where we live and can see the impact it’s going to have?
“For both of us, these are the things that really matter.”
Wednesday night could not have made that message more clear. This is the ninth year Truex’s foundation has helped put on Catwalk for a Cause, and in that time, it has grown exponentially. Heck, they filled two airplane hangars with donors this year. Pollex has survived her cancer more than once in that time (although she happily admits to feeling better in remission now). Considering the meager start in Year One — Pollex estimated there were about 50 people at the inaugural event — it’s a testament to them that it has grown so large so quickly.
But if Pollex and Truex were reading this, they likely would not appreciate that the focus was on them, not on the message or the children they were helping.
