A-6 THE LEADER-VINDICATOR – Wednesday, April 13, 2011 New Bethlehem, Rimersburg, Sligo, Pa.

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HARRISBURG – On April 4, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted to declare April 2011 as Esophageal Cancer

Awareness and Prevention Month.

This declaration came about after the actions of a local family reached state Rep. Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion) in January.

Rich and Linda Horner of Rimersburg, along with their two daughters, have been struggling against the devastating effects of esophageal cancer on their family since 2008 and have reached out to the state government to ensure that all Pennsylvanians are aware of this disease and have the knowledge to pre-vent its occurrence.

On Sept. 10, 2008, just months after their 25th wedding anniversary, Rich Horner was diagnosed with Stage III Esophageal Can-

cer, which means that the cancer had spread to the outer layer of the esopha-gus and into nearby lymph nodes. This diagnosis was made after years of his struggle with heartburn, indigestion and gastro-esophageal refl ux disease or GERD. Once diagnosed, the couple was given the startling facts surround-ing EC patients:

• Fewer than one in fi ve patients will survive for fi ve years.

• The most common cause of EC, as in Horn-er’s case, is heartburn or GERD.

• GERD can lead to Barrett’s Esophagus and increases the patient’s chance of developing EC by 125 percent.

• EC is among the can-cers that receive the least amount of federal medical research funding.

• There are two kinds of EC, both of which can be life-threatening: Adeno-carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

The next two years were a whirlwind of radi-cal medical treatments for Horner that included the removal of his esophagus and the repositioning of his stomach to act as his now absent esophagus. Chemotherapy and throat dilations became the norm for Horner as he battled the disease in his body, as well as regular PET/CT scans to make sure the treatment was working properly. With the news of each clear scan, the cou-ple became more and more hopeful for the treatment of Rich’s cancer.

However, the treatments were taking a toll on Horn-er’s positive outlook on life. Some days he would ask his wife, “Why me?” For many months, Linda Horner had no answer for her husband, until one day, she fi nally came up with the response.

“I’ll tell you why, ‘Why you,’” Linda Horner said. “Because God knows that your wife has a big mouth and will tell everyone about

this. That’s why you.”This revelation start-

ed a new crusade for the Horner family as they set out to have Pennsylvania join with Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland and Tennessee, as declaring April as Esophageal Can-cer Awareness and Pre-vention Month.

Esophageal cancer is one of the most prevent-able forms of cancer, but lacks the awareness need-ed to tell future victims how to prevent and moni-tor symptoms that can lead to EC.

“Since my husband’s di-agnosis in 2008, at least fi ve people have been diag-nosed with EC within a 45 minute drive of our home,”

said Linda Horner. “I feel that this is a signifi cant enough number to war-rant attention.”

The couple was told to contact their state govern-ment and a letter asking for increased awareness of the disease soon reached Oberlander.

Oberlander and 64 oth-er members of the House introduced House Reso-lution No. 130 to declare April 2011 as Esopha-geal Cancer Awareness and Prevention Month on April 4, 2011, where it was voted upon and signed by Speaker of the House, Sam Smith, from Jeffer-son County.

This resolution will help to increase awareness of the prevalence of EC,

preventative measures to avoid it, and symptoms and risk factors associ-ated with this severe and increasingly common form of cancer in Pennsylvania, Oberlander said.

According to the Na-tional Cancer Institute the most common risk fac-tors for esophageal cancer include: being age 65 or older, being male, smok-ing, heavy drinking, a diet low in fruits or vegetables, obesity, acid refl ux, and Barrett esophagus.

Common symptoms of EC include: painful swal-lowing, food getting stuck in the esophagus, pain in chest or back, weight loss, heartburn, a hoarse voice or cough that doesn’t go away within two weeks.

Rmbg. family promotes cancer awareness

STATE REPS. SAM Smith (left) and Donna Oberlander (right) met recently in Harrisburg with the Horner family of Rimersburg, which includes (from left to right) Rich and Linda Horner and their

two daughters. The local family has been promoting awareness of esophageal cancer ever since Rich Horner was diagnosed with the disease in 2008.

gued in a preliminary hearing that, for an at-tempted homicide case, there has to be “intent to kill and all the evidence says otherwise.”

Grant and his brother-in-law, reside on adjoining properties along Sham-rock Drive in Piney Town-ship, just outside Sligo Borough.

Police were called to Grant’s property at about 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2009.

According to State Police Trooper William Craddock, Grant — in an early inter-view — allegedly admitted to shooting Paulden in the leg after the two engaged in an argument and Paul-den allegedly hit Grant in the head with a stick or board.

During police question-ing, Grant allegedly said he intervened in a dispute between his son and sev-eral others visiting the garage apartment next to Grant’s home. Police noted that Grant became involved when the alterca-tion ended up in the drive-way.

Grant allegedly told po-lice that he yelled at those involved, saying that they were “deadbeats” and “in-volved in drugs.”

One of those at the gathering was Paulden’s son, Aaron, who left the scene prior to the police incident.

Shortly after Aaron Paulden’s departure, Dave Paulden, who is married to Grant’s sister, came to the Grant property and report-edly asked who was talk-ing about his children.

Court documents record that Grant approached Dave Paulden and replied that he was the one who had made the comments.

Accounts from Grant and Dave Paulden, as well as witnesses, offered differring versions of the events of the evening.

Grant accused Dave Paulden of hitting him in the head with a board, causing him to fall. Grant told police that he raised a pistol, aimed it low, and shot.

After Dave Paulden re-portedly fell to the ground, Grant allegedly admitted to police that he kicked Dave Paulden until he “re-alized he was hurt” and sought help.

While Grant returned to his house to call for emer-gency assistance, Dave Paulden allegedly drove himself to Clarion Hospi-tal. He was fl own to Uni-versity of Pittsburgh Medi-cal Center for treatment of a gunshot wound to his thigh.

A bullet reportedly en-tered the outer side of Dave Paulden’s left thigh and exited through the other side of his thigh, piercing his femoral artery. He also suffered wounds in his jaw.

According to reports from Dave Paulden to po-lice during a UPMC inter-view, Aaron Paulden had come to his house that evening saying that “Uncle Jim” was “going to kill ev-eryone.”

Shane Varner of Sligo told police he was in-volved in an altercation with Grant’s son, Marcus Grant, prior to the shoot-ing and was outside when Dave Paulden arrived on the scene.

Varner alleged in court that Dave Paulden hit James Grant in the head with a board and that James Grant started to walk away when Dave Paulden told his brother-in-law to “go get his gun.”

It was then, Varner tes-tifi ed, that James Grant allegedly turned around, walked toward Dave Paul-den and shot him.

James Grant’s 17-year-old daughter, whose name was not released, told po-lice Dave Paulden hit her father with a log and then that her father shot him. She added that James Grant allegedly started kicking Dave Paulden, say-ing, “You hit your friend, your best...friend” and that he was “lucky that I only got you in the leg.”

Dave Paulden told the court in a preliminary hearing that he was un-aware of any ongoing dis-pute with James Grant.

Hindman stated that Dave Paulden’s blood al-cohol content level at the time of the incident was a factor in the defense at last week’s trial.

In an earlier hearing, Dave Paulden admitted to the court that he “had a couple sips of Crown Roy-al” in his garage prior to the shooting.

Police said that upon in-

spection of James Grant’s home, a Charter Arms .357 revolver was found with one expended shell and one live shell in the cylinder.

Due to suspected drug activity during the night of the shooting, police ob-tained a search warrant for the garage apartment of Marcus Grant.

Marcus Grant, 27, was charged on Nov. 1, 2010, for felony offenses of pos-session and intent to de-liver drugs as well as nu-merous other drug-related charges.

“During the course of the investigation,” Crad-dock reported, “it was de-termined that the initial affray originated inside [Marcus Grant’s] apart-ment.”

Based on information provided by witnesses at the scene, police obtained a search warrant for the apartment and conduct-ed the search later that night.

Police reportedly found prescription pill bottles, containing marijuana seeds, several heroin stamp bags, marijuana plants, spoons with co-caine and heroin residue and two bags of marijua-na among numerous other drug paraphernalia.

Those charges have not yet been prosecuted through the court system.

Hindman said that his defense in James Grant’s trial was based on self-de-fense and that the injury to James Grant’s head was “indisputable.”

Clarion County Presi-dent Judge James Arner presided over the trial by jury of James Grant.

[Continued from Page A-7]Not guilty

MONROE TWP. – Police have charged a 21-year-old Ford City woman and a 40-year-old Clarion wom-an with retail theft.

Ashley Dawn Ziegler and Kelly Elizabeth Roush are accused of taking $69.80 in merchandise from Wal-Mart in Monroe Township at 7 p.m. on March 24 and leaving without paying.

Charges were fi led March 29 at the offi ce of District Judge Timothy P. Schill in Paint Township.

Women cited for retail theft

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