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Weekender edition of September 20-21,2014 • $1.50 • Serving Rutherford County • www.thedigitalcourier.com • Local Matters
Bostic
Charles Pruett
Spindale
Clarence“Wormy”Ray Jr.
Page A3
DEATHS
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INSIDE Vol. 45, No. 187
F O R E S T C I T Y
A
bone marrow transplant
isn’t something a normal
teenager would ask for, but
Skyla Rippy is ready and willing
to undergo what could be a
life-changing procedure.
Rippy, a 15-year-old
sophomore at R-S Central High
School, was diagnosed with
Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA)
in 2012, a disorder of the bone
marrow where it malfunctions
and fails to make enough red
blood cells, which carry oxygen
to the body’s tissues. The failure
causes patients to become
severely anemic.
Rippy hopes to undergo
the bone marrow transplant in
January and if it’s successful, it
could put her in remission.
“It’s very risky. For people
with my illness, it’s a 75 percent
chance of dying and your bone
marrow rejecting it,” Rippy
said. “It’s a very little percent of
success and everyone is asking
me why I’m doing it. It’s because
I’ve got God on my side and that
25 percent chance is looking at
me and saying ‘Come on.’”
On December 17, 2012
Rippy went to a family doctor’s
appointment because she couldn’t
run the mile in gym class. She
and her mother, Melissa Woody,
thought her iron was low,
but what they learned at that
appointment changed their lives
forever.
“We went to the doctor and
she (the nurse) pricked my finger
and said ‘You’re anemic for sure.’
When the doctor came in he
looked shocked and surprised
and asked how I was feeling,”
Rippy said in an earlier interview.
“He said my hemoglobin was
down to 2.1 and we needed to get
to Missions Hospitals. We went
home and got packed and when
we got up there the ICU nurses
SEE BATTLE/PAGE A10
BY ERIN KIDD
EKIDD@THEDIGITALCOURIER.COM
EDC cool
onsupport
for runway
expansion
RUTHERFORDTON — Amid the decision to
fast-track expansion of the runway at the Ruther-
ford County Airport, the county’s Economic Devel-
opment Commission (EDC) is not completely sold
on the project.
Instead of drafting a letter of support for the
project, EDC members voted
to table the letter and cre-
ate a subcommittee to exam-
ine the pros and cons of the
expansion.
“There’s a lot of aspects
beside just runway expan-
sion that need to be exam-
ined,” said EDC member
Kyle Hankinson.
Hankinson, vice president
of KCH Services in Forest
City and an experienced mili-
tary and civilian pilot, was
appointed to the subcommit-
tee along with fellow EDC
members Bob Keith, Omer Causey and board
chairman Terry Hines.
The Tryon International Equestrian Center has
requested, in a letter, a 1,000-foot expansion to the
runway at the airport to accommodate “large busi-
ness jets” coming to the center, located near the
Polk-Rutherford County line.
EDC Director Matt Blackwell said there were
no specifics as to what kinds of aircraft the facility
expects to fly into the airport only that the aircraft
would be used to move people, not necessarily
the animals coming to the equestrian facility. But,
Hankinson said there were a lot of aspects to look
at besides just expansion of the runway.
“It is a huge undertaking,” Hankinson said.
“Accommodating an aircraft the size of a 737 is
SEE EDC/PAGE A5
BY MATTHEW CLARK
MCLARK@THEDIGITALCOURIER.COM
Contributed Photo
Left: Skyla Rippy, a 15-year-old
sophomore at R-S Central High
School, was diagnosed with Dia-
mond Blackfan Anemia (DBA) in
2012, a disorder of the bone
marrow where it malfunctions
and fails to make enough red
blood cells, which carry oxygen
to the body’s tissues. She plans
to undergo a bone marrow
transplant in January that could
put her in remission.
Above: Skyla carries a backpack
to school that is covered in owls
and says“Skyla, OwlWinThis
Battle.”She remains positive
that she will go into remission
and beat DBA.
Rippy,diagnoasedwithDBA,isreadyforbonemarrowtransplant
WINNING
the battle
Gathering II for the Hilltoppers
UNION MILLS — Three
mountain ranges and a lake
where fish were jumping to
the top, provided the back-
drop for The Gathering II,
an R-S Central High School
all class reunion Saturday in
Union Mills.
As the 155 registered
classmates began arriving
for the second gathering in
two years, they talked about
their reasons for coming back
together.
Joe Riley, an event commit-
tee member, said after one
particular class reunion a few
years ago some of the grad-
uates thought it would be a
good idea to extend the hours
of the reunion and extend the
guest list.
“There just wasn’t enough
time at reunion. Three hours
isn’t long enough,” Riley said
of past reunions.
Saturday’s Gathering II
was a six hour event, begin-
ning at 2 p.m. and ending at
8 p.m.
Riley said extending the
time and the classes gives
“everybody time to spend
together.”
Eddie Taylor, a member of
the Class of 1970, said while
attending high school as a
freshman there were three
classes ahead of him and as a
senior there are three classes
behind him.
“You were a part of seven
different classes,” Taylor said.
In order to get back
together with all the classes,
the reunion committee decid-
ed to host a Gathering every
two years and invite all grad-
uates and anyone who ever
attended R-S Central.
“At first, we decided to do
the classes of 1966 to 1976
and others said they wanted
SEE GATHERING/PAGE A8
BY JEAN GORDON
JGORDON@THEDIGITALCOURIER.COM
Jean Gordon/Daily Courier
The Gathering II event committee members (l-r) Dennis Daniel and Ann
Holler Smawley register one of the 155 R-S Central High School gradu-
ates attending Saturday Gathering II in Union Mills.
“Accommodating
anaircraftthe
sizeofa737is
tremendousand
therearealotof
detailsthat
wouldhavetobe
thoroughly
lookedat.”
—KyleHankinson

2. A10 — The Daily Courier, Sunday, September 21, 2014 • www.thedigitalcourier.com
FROM THE FRONT PAGE
came running at me
saying ‘Come this way,
we’ve got to get you in
here and get this blood
started.”
Rippy received five
bags of blood until her
hemoglobin rose and was
diagnosed with DBA a
month later. Since then,
she has been taking
steroids and receives
blood transfusions based
on her hemoglobin levels.
She is on 50 different
medications.
“I think if it would
have proceeded and we
hadn’t took her to the
family doctor I would
have woken up one
morning and found her
dead,” Woody said. “The
hemoglobin was 2 and the
doctors words were ‘1 is
dead.’ They didn’t know
how she walked into the
hospital, she should have
been in a coma to start
with.”
Because of her
treatments, Rippy has
a weakened immune
system. She often wears
a mask when she is in
public to protect her from
germs. The disease has
also put a stop to physical
activities. She cannot play
sports or participate in
physical education classes
at school. Her anemia has
also caused her to have
an enlarged heart and a
heart murmur, asthma
and high blood pressure.
But Rippy is hopeful
that the transplant is
successful and these
problems will soon be a
thing of the past.
“I’m not nervous. The
doctors in the cancer
center were surprised
that I’m not scared. They
told me most kids would
be on the edge of their
seats,” Rippy said. “I told
them if they left me there
on my death bed, God
would come down and
heal me right away, and I
believe in that.”
Woody was originally
against the idea of the
transplant, but she is
respecting her daughter’s
decision since it is the
only possible cure for
DBA.
“I’m in shock because
they are ready for this and
they are doing this. They
have two (bone marrow)
matches and are testing a
third,” Woody said. “She’s
ready and willing.”
According to Rippy, the
bone marrow transplant
procedure will begin with
three days of aggressive
chemotherapy to wipe out
her bone marrow. After
that, she will receive her
new bone marrow from
the donor.
“When you are reborn,
that’s what they call it
when you get your new
bone marrow, it takes
about three months for
it to kick in. You will also
need blood transfusions
and platelets,” Rippy
said. “My blood type will
change to whatever blood
type the donor has.”
The procedure will
replace her damaged
bone marrow with healthy
bone marrow stem cells
and if the transplant is
successful, Rippy said
she would possibly get
to discontinue all of her
medicines after a year.
But there is a risk of
having a DBA relapse.
“About two or three
years down the line, I’ll
get to be finished with
everything, except a
check in at the cancer
center every six months
to make sure my
hemoglobin is still up
because I can relapse,”
Rippy said.
There is still the
chance the procedure
won’t succeed, something
Rippy and Woody have
often discussed.
“It’s a conversation I
never thought I would
have with one of my kids.
I’m in tears whenever
I talk to her about it,”
Woody said. “She told
me word for word, she
wants us to throw a party
if something happens to
her. She calls it leaving.
She wants us to throw a
party if she leaves.”
If the transplant fails,
Rippy said doctors will
try to keep her alive with
transfusions and platelets
for as long as possible.
She isn’t afraid, but she
hates to see her mother
worry.
“It’s really hard to see
her (Woody) upset over
everything. If I had a kid
and they were really sick
like this and I had to go
through so many things, I
would probably be scared
for them,” Rippy said.
“She asked me how I
wanted to plan my funeral.
That’s not something kids
should have to plan. But
ever since I got sick my
childhood went into the
trash can. You really have
to grow up when you get
sick.”
Rippy has many
supporters and prayer
warriors through her
Facebook page “Prayers
for Skyla.” She created
the page to bring
awareness to the rare
disease.
“The people on my
prayer page, I’ve seen a
change in them,” Rippy
said. “After you bring up
something this important,
everyone starts coming
in and showing their
support. Everyone on the
page is supportive.”
She also has school
friends like Savannah
Wheat, who is impressed
by Rippy’s bravery.
“I don’t know what to
personally think about
it, but Skyla is one of the
bravest people I know,”
Wheat said.
Rippy and her family
are selling T-shirts for
$10 that say ‘Prayers for
Skyla’ to raise money for
medical bills and other
expenses. They are also
planning a Boston butt
sale in October.
And when January
comes around, Rippy
is ready to take on this
procedure that will
hopefully change her life
for the better.
“I’m going through
with it no matter what.
It’s going to put me in
remission and then I
will be able to run a mile
under 20 minutes or go
do other things I could
never do and just be the
normal kid I was,” Rippy
said.
“I’m ready, she
continued. “I’ve got
my Bible and my cross
necklace and my God.”
For more information
about Skyla Rippy,
like Prayers for Skyla
on Facebook. You
can also subscribe to
Skylasreborns252 on
Youtube.
To order a T-shirt
email teamskyla52@
gmail.com.
BATTLE
Erin Kidd/Daily Courier
Skyla Rippy, 15, has been described as brave and crazy
for wanting a bone marrow transplant. But she says she
isn’t nervous because she has God on her side.
Chase Homecoming Queen announced
Jimmy Potts/Daily Courier
Escorted by Riley Bright (right), Brianna Kingery was named Chase High School
homecoming queen during a ceremony Friday night held at halftime of the Chase/
Shelby game.
FROM PAGE A3
Maxwell, Joshua:
Unsupervised Probation
Violation; Paid In Full
Merck, Kenneth:
Probation Violation;
Probation Revoked, 6
Days Credit
Miller, Fredrick:
Failure To Appear,
Failure To Comply; 10
Days County
Shaw, Taisha:
Failure To Appear,
Unsupervised Probation
Violation; 10 Days
County, Credit Time
Served
Shehan, James:
Larceny; State
Voluntarily Dismissed
Smith, Corbit:
Probation Violation;
51 Days Confinement,
Continue Probation,
Attorney Fee
Sept.16
Judge: Powell
Bennett, Morgan:
Resisting Arrest;
Probation Revoked
Bogray, Kristopher:
Failure To Maintain
Lane Control, Drive/
Allow Motor Vehicle
No Registration, Hit/
Run Failure To Stop
Property Damage; State
Voluntarily Dismissed
For Plea
Conner, Donna:
Operate Vehicle No
Insurance, Fictitious/
Altered Title/
Registration Card/Tag;
3 Days County
Edwards, Jackeive:
Paraphernalia, Failure
To Appear; State
Voluntarily Dismissed
Glover, James:
Driving While License
Revoked; 20 Days-12
Months Supervised
Probation, Community
Service, ½ Community
Service Fee
Haney, Rebecca:
No Operators License;
State Voluntarily
Dismissed
Hardin, Vickie:
Driving While
Impaired; 1 Year
Probation
Head, Anna:
Speeding; Fine, Paid
COURT
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