Charley Jameson has long been a fan of tractor and truck pulls.
His brothers, Mike and Burt, both competed in events throughout the area and Charley is usually there watching.
On Friday, Aug. 9, it was Charley that got behind the wheel with help of his brothers and plenty of friends and accomplished something he long wanted to do.
He competed in the truck pull at the 58th annual Platte County Steam Engine Show — held at the Platte County Fairgrounds in Tracy from Aug. 9-11 but wrapped up early due to rain on Sunday — for the first time and perhaps the only time.
Last October, the rural Dearborn resident learned he had stage four pancreatic cancer.
Kim Jameson noted this was the first time her husband, 54, had even been sick outside of a common cold.
Knowing he has a terminal illness, the lifelong Dearborn resident wanted to do something he hadn’t before — take part in a truck pull.
“We just never had the time or money to put into it,” said Kim of the family of five that includes children Kaitlyn, 26; Kaleb, 21, and Kalley, 11, who will be a sixth grader at North Platte. “It had always been a dream of my husband.”
He got a 1971 Chevrolet pickup from his brothers to take part in the pull on Friday night. A week before the event, issues arose with the truck.
Two hours before the pull started, Charley’s brothers, along with Brian Boydston, Chris Burch and Jeff Wilson, Kim’s brother, started working on the truck at the Platte County Fairgrounds.
“They all rallied and worked on the truck for its run down the track and they made it happen,” Kim said.
Due to the lack of strength from the cancer, his brothers had to hook up the truck to the pull.
There were about 30 friends and family in the stands to watch Jameson make it down the straightaway.
“It was very emotional, I was nervous when they were backing it up,” Kim said. “He had a good run down the track, that is all that matters. He was weak, but you couldn’t tell he was terminally sick. He was full of adrenaline.”
The run was a ‘bucket’ list item of sorts for Charley.
The family, which all lives together, has been looking at options for treatment. Kim noted the two options are from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston or Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
They are seeing if he would qualify for a procedure that could extend his life, but won’t cure him.
“We haven’t given up, we are looking for alternatives,” Kim said. “We won’t give up until the very end.”