Prayer Request

I have been so blessed to feel the power of all your prayers. My family has been praying fo little Jamison Powell and I am now asking you all to pray for him as well.

Doctors discovered a malignant tumor near the base of 4-year-old Jamison Powell earlier this week after the Johnsonville youth had trouble walking while at a baseball game Saturday.
By John Sweeney | Editor: The Weekly Observer
Published: April 8, 2010
Updated: April 9, 2010

JOHNSONVILLE — A Johnsonville boy is heading to Washington, D.C., to undergo new checmotherapy treatment for a brain tumor doctors discovered earlier this week.

Family members said oncologists at Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia said 5-year-old Jamison Powell needed to start receiving treatments immediately. He will be leaving Tuesday to begin six to eight weeks of newly-developed chemotherapy treatments in Washington, D.C.

Doctors discovered a malignant brain tumor in Jamison after his family sought medical attention when he displayed symptoms while at a baseball game Saturday.

He is the son of Lindsay Roberts Powell and Blake Powell, both of Johnsonville, and grandson of Milton and Nancy Powell and Roy and Belinda Roberts.

Jamison’s aunt, Aftene Poston, said the family is doing well and getting ready for the treatment.

“We want the best for him,” she said in a telephone interview Thursday. “Whatever that takes, our family is ready to go.”

Residents in Johnsonville and the surrounding communities have organized several events in support of Jamison and his family almost as soon as his diagnosis became known.

Belinda Roberts, said the outpouring of community support has been “overwhelming.”

“There are no words that can express how much we appreciate everything,” she said.

Roberts, along with Jamison’s parents and other family members, returned home with Jamison from Palmetto Richland Memorial on Wednesday.

Roberts, a secretary at Johnsonville Elementary School, thanked the community for its prayers and support.

“If it hadn’t been for this community, we wouldn’t have been able to pull together as far as we have,” she said. “I knew we lived in a great community and I worked with great people, but (the support) is overwhelming.”

Community members paused at 7 p.m. Tuesday to pray for Jamison and his family.

Word of his condition spread via e-mails circulated throughout the community and through the social networking site Facebook, where a page, “Prayers for Jamison Powell-Son of Lindsay and Blake Powell,” has been set up.

The page, which was started earlier this week, already had nearly 2,000 fans by Thursday night.

At the monthly meeting of the Johnsonville City Council, members suspended proceedings at 7 p.m. to participate in the moment of prayer.

Councilman Brad Richardson said several fundraisers have been planned by residents the community to help raise funds for the Powell family.

The first fundraiser, a barbecued chicken dinner sale, is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 16 at Johnsonville Community Center on South Hampton Avenue, Richardson said.

Dayne Coker, principal of Johnsonville Elementary School where Jameson is a student, said various efforts are under way to help the family throughout Florence County District 5, including the collection of monetary donations and “goodie baskets” containing various comfort items for Jamison and his family. Coker said the school also will sell tickets for the April 16 fundraiser.

Wade Nettles and Jonz Stuckey, who coach Jamison’s youth baseball team, are involved in organizing that event. Nettles said tickets would be on sale throughout the community soon, $6 for dinner and $10 for raffle tickets. Nettles said the group will be raffling off a rifle as an additional fundraiser.

Nettles also said a trust fund had been set up for Jamison at The Citizens Bank on Georgetown Highway in Johnsonville. Anyone can make a donation there by inquiring about the Jamison Powell trust fund, he said.