Community unites to help 15-year-old Mayodan boy in fight of his life

By Steve Lawson

Published: August 30, 2008

The cars parked along Main Street in Mayodan offered the first clue that something unique was happening Friday evening.

Not only were there a few more vehicles than usual, but some displayed messages painted on side and rear windows. The messages consisted of three simple words: “Pray for Zach.”

“It’s all about Zach,” said Billy Adkins, owner of Buckets Grill and Pub in Mayodan.

Friday evening’s crowd at Buckets was a little larger and more diverse than usual. Many were first-time patrons, there primarily to take part in a benefit corn hole tournament to raise money for Zach Cardwell and his family.

Zach, a 15-year-old Mayodan resident, has been hospitalized with a rare form of pneumonitis — an inflammation of the lungs — since the end of July.

Zach’s mother, Dawn Cardwell, said he developed the first symptoms July 26, a Friday.

“That Monday we took him to see the doctor and by Wednesday he was in the hospital,” she said.

At first, doctors at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro were baffled by Zach’s ailment. Although it resembled pneumonia, no normal cause agent could be identified.

A biopsy taken from Zach’s lungs showed a type of white blood cells known as eosinophils. The cells normally attack the lung’s ability to extract oxygen from inhaled air, but the reaction in Zach’s lungs was abnormal and much more severe.

“They finally decided Zach’s body had an allergic reaction to the eosinophilic cells,” said Randy Cardwell, Zach’s father. “They were actually eating away at the cells in his lungs, causing small holes in his lungs.”

Those holes were allowing air to escape into Zach’s chest cavity, creating more pressure on his lungs.

“Even on the ventilator, he was having trouble keeping up his oxygen level,” Randy said.

On Aug. 8, the doctors in Greensboro decided to send Zach to specialists in Chapel Hill with more experience treating the rare form of eosinophilic pneumonitis.

With their son so far from home, Zach’s parents have been taking turns coming home to work a few days and returning to his side. While in Chapel Hill, they have been staying at the Ronald McDonald House there.

“It’s nice to have a place to stay close to the hospital, but it’s awful lonely there,” Randy said. “But the support we’ve received from friends back home and all over has really been overwhelming. I can’t begin to tell you how much that means.”

That support has taken many forms throughout the month-long ordeal, but Dawn said the most significant moment in Zach’s recovery began when the prayers of friends and family began in earnest.

The Cardwell’s church, First Baptist Church of Mayodan, held a special prayer service for Zach on Aug. 10. His parents view that as a turning point for their son.

“That’s when Zach began to show signs of getting better,” Dawn said. “For me, that’s when the power of prayer really became real.”

From that time onward, the Cardwells began to hear from more and more people who learned of Zach’s illness and wanted to help. Randy said they heard from people as far away as Alabama.

“We have some friends there who knew about Zach and they told their church family about him,” he said. “Before we knew it, we were getting cards and e-mails from people at that church telling us how hard they had been praying for Zach.”

Friday evening’s event at Buckets was the result of such a friendly contact. In addition to running Buckets, Adkins serves on two volunteer fire departments and the local rescue squad. That’s how he met Randy Cardwell. They’re both firefighters with the Northwest Rockingham Volunteer Fire Department.

“I know it’s been hard on Randy and Dawn (Zach’s parents) with Zach being so sick, and added to that is all the travel they’ve had to do and missing so much work,” Adkins said. “We just wanted to show them how much we cared and do something to help out with the extra expenses.”

Adkins said many of the people participating in Friday’s tournament were fellow firefighters, as well as police officers and other emergency personnel.

“There’s a real sense of brotherhood among those of us in emergency services,” Adkins said. “But it’s easy to see that Zach has stirred the hearts of a lot of people in the community and beyond. We’ve got a lot of new people here tonight that just wanted to come donate to Zach and his family.”

One of those new players was Zach’s cousin, Ethan Satterfield.

“I just heard about this and decided it was one way I could help out Zach,” said Satterfield. “It’s great to see all of these people out here for him.”

Friday night’s event raised more than $1,100 for the Cardwell family, and Adkins hopes to add to that as Zach’s stay in Chapel Hill progresses.

Zach underwent two more surgical procedures Wednesday, one to replace the ventilator breathing tube in his mouth with a tracheostomy and another to relieve some of the air built up in his chest cavity.

Although concerned, Randy said both procedures were positive signs for their son.

“There was far less air built up this time,” he said. “That means the holes in his lungs are healing, and that will help him improve quicker.”

Randy said doctors were concerned that the ventilator breathing tube could cause damage to Zach’s vocal chords with such long-term use and thought it best to switch to the tracheostomy.

“They’re keeping him under heavy sedation and he’s showing small steps of improvement every day,” Dawn said. “But that’s what the doctors want to see.”

Both Randy and Dawn have been encouraged by the signs of improvement they see in their son, as well as by the words of encouragement they continually receive from friends and family back home in Rockingham County.

Every time they come back home to work or take care of some business, they pass the sign requesting prayer for Zach at Case Auto Center coming into Madison. That inspires a sense of gratitude for the outpouring of love and care they’ve experienced in the last few weeks.

“We’ve just been overwhelmed by the way people have come together to pray for Zach and help us through this,” Randy said. “We’ve never experienced anything like it before and I don’t know if we could have made without all this support.”

Other friends in the community have developed plans for special events to raise funds for the Cardwell family. A benefit softball tournament will be held Sept. 18 at Huntsville Ballpark, with all proceeds going to the Cardwell family. A benefit motorcycle ride is scheduled for Sept. 21, beginning at the Mayodan Ballpark.

For more information on the softball tournament, call Matt Dalton at 932-1324. For information about the motorcycle ride, call Steve Bottoms at 871-3685, Johnny Lawrence at 427-6377 or Alan Hensley at 427-5922.

Continuous updates on Zach’s condition and information from Randy and Dawn can be found online at http://www.carepages.com.

News editor Steve Lawson can be reached at or at 548-6047.