Page 32 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2017

ARTS “fun” raising
32 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • December 2017 FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
story by Susan Ruddiman
photos courtesy of Henry Cummings
Faced with a life-threatening disease, Henry “Hank” Cummings, 62, has turned to art to raise funds for a cure. He creates steampunk looking pieces under the pavilion he calls a “man cave” at his Latimer home.
Artist Raises Money for Parkinson’s Research
e goes out there and puts in a CD and listens to music, going at it until his hands say ‘no more,’” said his wife of three years, Donna Cummings.
February. They found he had a tumor on the side of his brain, but it wasn’t cancerous,” Donna said.
Hank agreed. “I have problems picking up screws, sometimes I have to try four or five times. Then my hands will cramp,” he said.
“We got home toward the end of February, and toward the end of March I saw a neurologist. He was the first doctor who started talking about Parkinson’s,” Hank said.
Hank has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects one in 100 people over age 60.
He worked in the petrochemical trade
for 42 years, manning tug boats that pushed chemicals, asphalt, oil and gas on waterways all over the United States. He started out as a deckhand as a student at the National Marine Academy and worked his way up to captain. His work schedule was generally 30 days on and 15 days
Hardly a week goes by now that Donna isn’t taking Hank to a doctor’s appointment.
off when he came home to his family in Latimer. Then his life drastically changed.
Hank’s “double whammy” on his Parkinson’s diagnosis are his ancestors who had suffered from neurological conditions, and the fact that he worked in an industry where he was exposed to petrochemicals.
“He passed out and fell on the job in
He was urged by his doctors to find a
“The doctors are saying when he
fell in February and hit his head, it caused everything else to accelerate.
He was walking fine, then the next
thing you know, he’s on the cane, and then the next thing it’s a walker,” Donna said.
CUMMINGS BB5
This cute space creature comes with the note: “My name is BB#5. I have served my masters well. I have served in the Colonial Wars and had many adventures. I am looking for a new master.”