By Keysha Drexel
Journal editor
Before Robert E. Reed lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in 2002, the Mountain Brook man issued a challenge to his sons–and the whole community–to finish the fight.
Reed’s legacy of pulling people together to make a positive difference is living on in a foundation that was founded in his honor and as a response to his challenge to do more to care for pancreatic cancer patients and fund research for a cure.
In the last decade, the Robert E. Reed Gastrointestinal Oncology Research Foundation has raised $1.5 million for research at UAB. The foundation’s signature fundraising event, the 10th annual Finish the Fight Iron Bowl Tailgate Party, will be Nov. 20 at Old Car Heaven in Birmingham.
Reed’s son, Scott Reed of Mountain Brook, said his father’s legacy of “always finishing the fight” continues through the work of the foundation and Dr. Marty Heslin, the associate director of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center who leads the foundation’s programs.
Scott founded the foundation with his brother, Randy. Their mother, Carolyn Reed, is on the foundation’s board of directors.
“The whole ‘Finish the Fight’ challenge actually stems from a funny anecdote that goes back to when Randy and I were in elementary school,” Scott said. “We were telling our father about someone picking on someone at school, and he told us that he never wanted us involved in a fight but said if we had no other choice and found ourselves in a fight, we had to finish it.”
This year’s Finish the Fight Iron Bowl Tailgate Party kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and will feature music by the Cooper Trent Band, plenty of tailgate food, complimentary wine and beer, a silent auction and perhaps even appearances by University of Alabama and Auburn University mascots and cheerleaders.
Scott said he has fond memories of growing up watching football with his father, his brother and his mother–all huge Auburn fans.
“You can’t grow up around here and not look at the Iron Bowl as a big deal, but the idea we had when we started the Iron Bowl Tailgate Party was bigger than even football,” Scott said. “What we wanted to do was to create an event that’s not as formal as some fundraisers–something a little more relaxed–and something that capitalizes on that passion Auburn and Alabama fans bring to the game. We want people to rally around the battle against cancer with the same passion.”
The foundation’s Junior Board also hosts the Beer, BBQ & Bingo Party and the Love-Love Magic City Tennis Challenge fundraisers to help fund GI cancer research and patient care.
“My father actually wrote the first check for the foundation before he passed away,” Scott said. “Randy and I told our dad that we wanted to answer his challenge to finish the fight by founding the foundation. We told him that no matter how his battle with cancer turned out, that for us, it wasn’t over.”
Scott said his father was only 60 years old and in the prime of his professional life as chairman and chief executive officer of Realty South when he passed away in 2002.
But Scott said the family had two more years with his father than was expected.
In 2002, a leading specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City sent Robert home to die, thinking it was too risky to perform a surgery that might slow the progression of the pancreatic cancer.
“It was like seeing someone standing in front of an oncoming train and feeling like you can do absolutely nothing about what is about to happen,” Scott said. “To say it was a helpless feeling is a vast, vast understatement.”
But as the family was leaving the hospital in New York City, the doctor mentioned that a bright surgical oncologist named Dr. Marty Heslin had just completed a fellowship at Sloan Kettering.
“He told us that Marty was the brightest fellow to ever come through Sloan Kettering and that now he was at UAB,” Scott said. “It gave us hope that we had the best in the field right here at home.”
The family returned to Birmingham and made an appointment with Heslin.
“My father was too sick at that time for surgery, but from that first meeting, that first day, Marty made it his goal to help my father get well enough for the surgery,” Scott said. “There was this ‘can-do’ attitude, this feeling that we’re all in this together, and for the first time in a long time, we were hopeful.”
The surgery was a success, and Scott said his father was given two more years with his family–24 precious months that allowed him the chance to hold all of his grandchildren.
“He saw three more grandchildren born. He had a chance to hold my younger son, who is named after him,” Scott said. “He knew all of his grandchildren before he passed away.”
After his father was laid to rest, Scott said he and his family were more determined than ever to take up his challenge and help make sure patients in the Birmingham area can continue to get the best care from the brightest physicians and specialists.
“My father never said, ‘Go out and raise a bunch of money,'” Scott said. “The whole foundation is organized around people–in caring for people with cancer and for funding research to make sure less people have to face that battle.”
Scott said his father was committed to helping the Birmingham area attract and retain top medical talent like Heslin.
“My father knew that being close to home is important when you are sick, and that’s a component of what we aim to do with the foundation,” Scott said. “If you are fighting for your life, you shouldn’t have to get on a plane and fly across the country to get world-class treatment from the best professionals. We need to keep that talent, those resources right here in our own backyard.”
For more information on the Robert E. Reed Gastrointestinal Oncology Research Foundation, visit reedgifoundation.com. For more information or to make reservations to attend the Nov. 20 Iron Bowl Tailgate Party, look under the “events” tab on the foundation’s website.
