St. Jude celebrates its first 60-year survivor

When he was 13 years old, Arkansas state Rep. Dwight Tosh’s deteriorating health had been baffling doctors in Jonesboro for weeks.

He had lost his ability to walk or stand on his own by the time he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and those taking care of him told his family to prepare for the worst. Then they heard about a newly opened facility in Memphis: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The year was 1962, and when Tosh was carried through the doors of St. Jude, he was the 17th patient to ever be admitted to the hospital. He was immediately started on an aggressive treatment plan.

While it has a high survival rate now, at the time, nonHodgkin’s lymphoma was almost always fatal. Friday, Tosh was presented with a pin to mark a milestone for both him and the hospital: the first St. Jude patient to reach 60 years of survival posttreatment.

“If they had walked in that room and said, ‘We want to tell you that 60 years from today, you will return to the St. Jude campus and your story, your life story will be highlighted as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of St. Jude,’ I’m not sure that anyone in that room would have believed,” he said.

Tosh’s experiences with St. Jude as a teenager shaped his decisions for the rest of his life. He wanted to spend his life helping people, so he spent 37 years as an Arkansas State Police officer and, after retiring, ran for a seat in the Arkansas Legislature, where he has served since 2015, representing his hometown of Jonesboro as a Republican.

“I wanted to pursue a career where I’d be in a position to help others, to help people because so many people helped me in my life when I was going through the darkest time of my life,” Tosh said.

He’s traveled all over the country fundraising for the hospital, and in 2007, Tosh became the first patient to enroll in St. Jude LIFE, a research program studying the health of more than 5,000 St. Jude survivors. The effort allows clinicians to better understand the late effects of cancer and treatment to advance future treatments.

“I’m always grateful, and I’m always thankful, and that’s the reason when they call I stop whatever I’m doing and I make myself available,” he said.

‘IN THE PRESENCE OF GREATNESS’

He still has vivid memories of his time at St. Jude — both happy and sad.

At that time, patients were strictly limited in where they could go within the hospital and whom they could see. Tosh often talked to family members through a window. The only time he left his wing of the hospital was when he was taken through an underground tunnel to another building where he received his chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Tosh would make friends with other patients, but when he would ask his mom to wheel him to their rooms for a visit, they would sometimes find the rooms empty, sheets made, personal items gone.

“I was 13 years of age, and I had a difficult time understanding … my new friends, why they were dying,” he said.

On other occasions, a nurse would come into his room to tell him a special visitor would be coming to the hospital. One time, it was The Three Stooges, who Tosh said helped all the patients forget how sick they were for a little bit.

Another time the surprise guest was actor and St. Jude founder Danny Thomas. Tosh didn’t know who he was at the time, but he noticed his mother putting on makeup and fixing her hair after the nurse said who was coming.

“Danny Thomas walked in, and he walked over and sat down on the side of the bed, and I mean he was in no hurry. I can still remember when he left … he left me with a feeling that if I was the only child that had been diagnosed with a catastrophic illness, he would have built St. Jude just for me. That’s that’s the kind of man he was,” Tosh said. “I didn’t really realize what that moment meant until later in life. And I reflected back, and that’s when I really realized that I had been in the presence of greatness.”

A FULL LIFE

Tosh doesn’t remember how many months he spent at the hospital, and after he was released he had to go back for frequent visits. But at some point, he was cleared to return to school.

However, the transition back wasn’t easy.

When he returned to his public school in Jonesboro, some parents called the school district to voice concerns about having someone recently discharged from a research hospital mixing with their children. People were scared by the unknown, he said.

His parents sat him down and gave him the option of alternative education — a different school or a tutor. But he knew they couldn’t afford that.

“I made a commitment to my parents that I would return to school and that I was going to prove not just for myself, but I was going to prove for every child at St. Jude that just because you’re a patient at St. Jude hospital does not make you any less of an individual,” Tosh said. “I’m going to prove that those kids at St. Jude are not just some sick child … they are warriors that have endured more pain and agony than most people.”

But while some walked away from Tosh, he said one person walked toward him, the girl who had been voted the most beautiful girl in school. They became high school sweethearts and have now been married for 52 years.

“She could have had any boy she wanted, and here was a guy like me, that was still finding his way back,” he said. “While so many were walking away from me, this most beautiful girl, she walked toward me, walked into these arms.”