Published: August 15, 2008 02:20 pm      

Sale to benefit Vietnam veteran

Ada — A benefit garage sale will be held on behalf of Vietnam veteran Lonnie Johnson this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The garage sale will be held at the Chickasaw Nation Gym, behind the Tribal Headquarters building. Proceeds from the sale go toward funding a kidney transplant for Johnson.

Johnson served in the military during the Vietnam War, and was in-country from 1968 to 1969. While there, Johnson said he and other troops were exposed constantly to the herbicide commonly known as agent orange.

“They flew over them with airplanes when they would spray them with the jungle,” said Johnson’s wife Pam. “He carried it on his back, too, spraying it. It was in the water, the food, you name it.”

Johnson said that the chemical would be sprayed constantly to try and eliminate the jungle foliage. But every time it rained, the agent orange would wash away and have to be reapplied.

This meant constant exposure to the hazardous substance.

After his time was served in the army, Johnson returned to the U.S.

The couple moved to the Latta area in the early 1970s, where they’ve been ever since.

In 1982, Johnson was diagnosed with kidney failure. Doctors estimated that he’d have to start undergoing dialysis to clean his blood within five years.

Instead, Johnson went an amazing 20 years after that initial diagnosis before undergoing dialysis treatment.

He attributes this incredible feat to a combination of healthy living and top-notch physicians.

Since then, Johnson has been on dialysis for over eight years. A little while ago he received a donor kidney, but it failed soon after the operation.

After the transplant failed, Johnson was placed back on the kidney donor list. He’s now at the top of the list for another transplant.

In the meantime, the Johnsons have recently obtained a home dialysis system, allowing the veteran’s blood to be cleaned without leaving the house. The purification process is done daily, and takes around two and a half hours.

While social security covered much of the cost of the first transplant operation, the Johnsons still have to pay a deductible of over $900 every three months.

Proceeds from the benefit garage sale will go toward making that deductible payment, covering a host of additional medical costs associated with Johnson’s recovery and saving for an eventual second transplant when it comes.