Brandon’s battle
* Editor’s note: It is with great sadness we report that Brandon Harness died Nov. 12 as this story was going to press. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends, all of whom stayed by his side throughout his battle with cancer.
On July 21, 2001, Brandon Harness of Bethel, Ohio, won a Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League tournament on the Ohio River. For most anglers such a win would mean a nice chunk of money and an ego boost. But the most glorious part of Brandon’s victory was that it gave him a brief respite from his incessant suffering.
For a magical moment on that hot day in July, Brandon was able to escape his agonizing pain, constant fatigue and relentless anguish. He was able to transcend all of the evils of his vicious attacker – pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer: A merciless killer
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. and has a scant 3 percent survival rate. It is a deadly cancer because the pancreas is such a small, yet critical organ. Since removing part of the pancreas is a risky procedure, chemotherapy is the primary way of controlling pancreatic tumors. The best-case scenario for the dreaded disease is remission.
Pancreatic cancer has a hereditary predisposition and is more likely to strike individuals over 60 years of age that have a long history of smoking or drinking. But the Harness family has no history of pancreatic cancer. Also, Brandon is 28 years old and has no carcinogenic habits. So when he checked into the hospital in March for gall bladder problems and instead was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a silent atomic bomb hit the Harness household.
“There is no explanation for why he got it,” says Farriel Harness, Brandon’s father. “Before his sickness, he was like a miniature Hercules. He was in great shape, extremely health-conscious and never had to go to the doctor.”
A community comes together
Bethel, Ohio, is in the heartland of America. The town is a rural community of 2,400 folks that still believe in the basic value of unity. So when a Bethel native was diagnosed with a brutal disease, the community rallied around him.
Brandon’s mother and five aunts were the first to spring into action. They organized car washes, garage sales, raffles and even a large community dance for Brandon.
Then Brandon’s uncles put on a benefit bass tournament. Eastgate Marine, the marine dealership where Brandon worked, held a golf tournament and a motorcycle ride to raise money. All of these activities, as well as contributions to the Brandon Harness Cancer Fund, helped raise almost $40,000 to cushion the extreme costs of treatment.
Additionally, the outpouring of emotional support for Brandon from Bethel and surrounding communities has been phenomenal.
Bass fishing: A reason to live
Those close to Brandon say that while his family and friends give him strength, it is bass fishing that keeps him alive. “It gives him another reason to live,” says his father. “Without his fishing, he might have already given up the fight.”
Brandon’s uncle, Jim Willoughby, a well-known BFL tournament veteran, introduced Brandon to bass fishing and the excitement of tournaments several years ago. Since then, Brandon’s passion for the sport has burned like a wildfire.
As a testament to the inspiration Brandon derives from bass fishing, those around him say they do not understand how he finds the strength to compete in tournaments considering his pain and the wicked effects of chemotherapy.
Brandon describes the pain of cancer as a mix between a bad stomachache and broken ribs. But he says the chemotherapy is what really debilitates him.
“Chemo makes him sick, real sick,” Willoughby says. “It makes him so weak. I do not see how he stands in a boat for eight hours. Sometimes he has to have help carrying his fish up, he is so drained when the day is over.”
Brandon has undergone 12 sessions of chemotherapy in the last five months. His strength and energy are depleted for seven to 10 days after each treatment as the extreme toxicity of the chemicals used wreaks havoc on his body. His slender frame has shed 40 pounds, and at times, he has been admitted to the hospital for dehydration following chemotherapy.
Brandon’s father says the effects of chemotherapy are indescribable. “Brandon says he cannot describe how sick it makes him feel. When he wakes up, it shocks him because he feels so bad.”
While Brandon can’t describe the wretchedness of chemotherapy, he can describe what a powerful tonic tournament bass fishing is to his condition. “Tournaments are the biggest thrill in my life,” he says. “No matter how bad I feel, I am always fired up on tournament mornings.”
The Ohio River BFL: A miraculous event
Enduring such tremendous pain and weakness just to fish is certainly a testament to Brandon’s passion for fishing. He fishes as a boater in the Bass Fishing League’s Buckeye Division and has already demonstrated his dynamic fishing mettle this season by finishing eighth at Sandusky Bay in June and winning the Ohio River event at Tanners Creek in July. That miraculous win and the days that preceded it provide further evidence of a divine link between Brandon and his beloved sport.
“I had the strangest feelings that entire week,” says Willoughby, who took Brandon fishing on the Ohio River the weekend before the tournament. “Because of Brandon’s condition, we wanted to find some fish close to the launch site. We found a good creek a few miles away. Brandon caught a couple of fish way up in the creek and fell in love with the area. Naturally, he wanted to fish it during the tournament.”
But on Tuesday, torrential rainfall blanketed the Ohio River valley. Brandon ventured to the creek himself on Wednesday to see what the rain had done to his area. To his disappointment, the creek was unfishable because of the swift, muddy water.
“I knew he was heartbroken,” Willoughby says. “So I took off work on Thursday and we went all the way down the Kentucky side and back up the Indiana side, about 180 miles round trip, looking for clearer water.”
By Friday afternoon the two anglers were running out of alternatives, so they decided to revisit the nearby creek that Brandon favored. When they got to the creek mouth, it was still gushing mud into the river.
But Willoughby, struck by a strange feeling, decided to run up the creek anyway. When they rounded the bend into the portion that Brandon wanted to fish, the water suddenly turned green and clear.
Willoughby says he was in shock. “I could not believe it. The creek had already cleared up in that one stretch. Brandon simply stood up, looked around and said, `This looks good, I want us both to fish here tomorrow.'”
Willoughby said he would go to another creek during the tournament and let Brandon have the area; however, Brandon insisted that they split the water on tournament day.
The next morning, the Ohio River greeted contestants with a fog delay. Again, an uncanny feeling came over Willoughby.
“Brandon and I were sitting there talking with our boats tied together,” Willoughby says. “Suddenly, out of nowhere, a 3-inch bream lands on his front deck and starts flopping around. I said, `Brandon, where did that little fish come from?’ I thought that maybe a bird had dropped it from the air. Brandon just picked it up, kissed it and put it back in the water. That is when I knew it was going to be a special day.”
The Ohio River was particularly stingy on that hot July day. Over half of the 117 boaters zeroed, and only 15 contestants caught more than one fish. With barely enough energy left to walk up to the scales, a courageous Brandon brought in the winning weight of 7 pounds, 4 ounces. His uncle, fishing the same area, finished second.
According to BFL tournament director Ron Lappin, the Ohio River rose a little more that day with the tears of an emotional weigh-in. “Many of the guys do not know what Brandon has to endure to get in a boat and fish,” Lappin says. “But the ones that do were whooping and hollering for him. Others were wiping tears from their eyes.”
“It was a touching moment to see him win,” Willoughby says. “Every Sunday I go to church and I pray that he can just make it to the next event, and here he is winning one. I really believe God meant for him to win that tournament.”
Brandon says his condition made him fish slower and more thoroughly that day. He simply does not have the time or energy to entertain the emotional diversions that ensnarl other anglers. Getting upset over a lost fish, a broken line or a backlashed reel would only rob Brandon of his precious energy.
Brandon’s angel
Those close to Brandon claim he has an angel looking after him. That angel is Nikki Shannon, Brandon’s fiancee and girlfriend of nine years. Brandon’s father says her devotion to Brandon is unparalleled. “She does not leave his side,” he says. “She takes care of him 24 hours a day. She is a very special person.”
Due to his condition, Brandon does not expound much in conversation unless the topic is bass fishing or Nikki. “She is my number-one motivator,” Brandon says. “She has given up a lot of her personal time and interests to look after me.”
Nikki travels with Brandon to all of his tournaments and does everything she can to help Brandon conserve his energy. “I usually drive and help him load the boat, tie on lures and spool line,” Nikki says. “Anything I can do to help him stay focused on the fishing.”
Nikki’s passion is showing quarter horses, an avocation that is every bit as competitive as tournament bass fishing. Consequently, Nikki has a great deal of patience and understanding for Brandon’s love of competitive bass fishing.
“Our two hobbies have a lot in common: travel and competition,” she says. “That makes us very supportive of each other. I know he loves fishing, I just don’t know where he gets the strength to do it.”
Nikki also reveals a side of Brandon that few have seen in recent months. “When he’s not sick, he is really funny,” she says in a cheerful tone. “He has a bunch of friends. We can’t go anywhere without running into somebody he knows. They are always picking on each other in good fun. He is really a great person.”
Continuing to fight
Despite the grim statistics of pancreatic cancer, Brandon is not giving up the fight. Armed with the support of an entire community, the will to fish and the enduring love of his soul mate, Brandon presses on in his life-or-death battle.
“I’ll beat it,” he says emphatically.
After his last CT scan in July, the tumor on Brandon’s pancreas had shrunk almost 60 percent and his blood count was returning to normal.
“Brandon is a very remarkable person,” Lappin says. “I have met few people in my life that have had as much bearing on me as Brandon. He is a man of great faith and a real inspiration.”
In terms of what bass fishing means to Brandon, Lappin says, “Because of his condition, I think that Brandon gets something from fishing that most people don’t. Fishing is special to him in a way that many of us will never understand.”