THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505140041
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
What Wayne Lincoln Jr. will remember most about his little brother is his smile and his laugh.
``He was always so playful,'' says 15-year-old Wayne Jr.
Eric Lincoln doesn't smile much anymore. And he doesn't venture outside to swing or play catch with his big brother. The 4-year-old is dying from leukemia.
Wayne Jr. leans on the dining room table, chin propped on his hands, and takes a deep breath. The bright-eyed teenager has just come inside after a game of catch with his friends, and it's a big switch to turn his thoughts from life to death.
In the next room, the boys' mother, Sharon Lincoln, has just pushed the ``dose button'' on Eric's I.V. pack, giving him an extra amount of morphine to help ease the pain.
``He doesn't know what hurts,'' says Sharon Lincoln, as her son's face contorts and the crying begins.
For nearly two years, Eric has been fighting acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He has undergone chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant but, in mid-April, a six-month remission suddenly ended and the cancer reasserted itself with a vengeance. Doctors have told the boy's parents that their son's death is imminent. They have made funeral arrangements, but have not given up hope of a miracle.
``We can always hope and pray, but the Lord makes the decisions,'' said Sharon Lincoln, whose faith remains unshaken.
``One way or another, a miracle is going to happen,'' said the boys' father, Wayne Lincoln Sr., cradling Eric in the crook of his left arm. The morphine has kicked in, and Eric's eyes start to droop.
``His life is a miracle,'' continues Wayne Sr., explaining how fellow parishioners of Pembroke Manor United Church of Christ have rallied to help the family in their crisis. Neighbors and friends, too, have given help and support.
Wayne Sr. hopes that the Eric Lincoln Fund the church has started will do more than just help his family. He hopes it will become a living memorial to Eric, helping others in similar circumstances.
``We know what it's like to go through this - what families need,'' said Wayne Sr., a deputy sheriff in Norfolk.
``You can't go through it by yourself,'' he said. ``The whole church is behind us.''
Church members have donated about $5,000 to help the family pay the mounting bills connected with Eric's treatment. Parishioners also have organized themselves to bring evening meals to the family.
``They've told me that the church has truly been a blessing to them,'' said Bruce Smith, the family's pastor. ``But I told them that Eric has been a blessing to the church.
``The thing that has made it so blessed is that so little has been solicited,'' said Smith. For example, he said, church members took it upon themselves to buy a video game system for Wayne Jr. at Christmas because the teen had done so much for his parents and brother during the two-year crisis.
``Eric's life has transformed the church,'' said Sherry Smith, the pastor's wife. ``Those who were just sitting before are now actively involved.''
And little Eric is an inspiration, she added. ``The way he's holding onto that pole is like the way he's holding onto life with a smile,'' she said, showing her favorite photo of Eric during his trip to Disney World the first week of May. The Make-A-Wish Foundation sent the family there, all expenses paid, to fulfill Eric's fondest wish: to meet Mickey Mouse.
Though the boy met Mickey and Pluto, he became too ill to stay the entire week, and the family returned home after four days.
While at Disney World, Wayne Sr. sometimes got tired, and Wayne Jr. carried his husky little brother around on his shoulders.
``He's really a better big brother than you could imagine,'' said Wayne Sr. of Wayne Jr., a freshman at Green Run High School.
Medical insurance will pay a part of the more than half a million dollars the family now owes. Wayne Sr. doesn't know just how much the family will have to pay.
``There's one from Duke for $300,000 asking me to pay up right away,'' he said, gesturing to the pile of bills.
The long ordeal has caught up with the family financially. Sharon had to give up her office job soon after Eric was diagnosed in August 1993 so that she could care for him.
The two family cars - 1987 Chevrolet Cavaliers - ``are dying,'' said Wayne Sr. And then there are the home repairs that they have had to put off to pay costs connected with Eric's treatment - like Sharon's stay in Durham, N.C., while Eric was a patient at Duke University Medical Center from October of last year through February of this year.
At Duke, doctors implanted blood taken from the umbilical cord and placenta of an unrelated newborn into Eric's bones. Eric was one of only six children to receive the new treatment for leukemia. Of the six, one has since died of other complications, and the other four are ``doing fine,'' said Sharon, who keeps in touch with the other parents.
Until the Monday after Easter, the family had every reason to believe that the treatment had worked, that Eric's disease might remain in remission indefinitely. But then the unmistakable signs of relapse appeared: loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, bruises and uncontrollable bleeding.
Doctors told the Lincolns that Eric's leukemia had found its way around the chemotherapy.
The long struggle shows in Sharon Lincoln's face. She sleeps seldom and eats little, involved as she is in trying to make Eric as comfortable as possible. She puts her faith in God and his mercy:
``I know where my baby's going, and he's not going to be in pain,'' said Sharon. ``I'm leaving it in the Lord's hands.'' MEMO: Donations may be sent to the Eric Lincoln Fund, c/o Pembroke Manor
United Church of Christ, 600 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va.
23462. Phone 490-8290.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Eric Lincoln, 4, dying from leukemia, can still manage a smile, but
only infrequently. His parents have made funeral arrangements, but
have not given up hope of a miracle.
by CNB