Shining Cash’s Light

Seventeen-month-old Cash Clancy has been through more than what many adults endure during a lifetime. Despite the difficulties he faces every day just to survive, he smiles often. While his twin brother, Turner, stumbles and walks in that unmistakable toddler fashion, pushing various toys around the house, Cash gets the most pleasure out of sitting on his father’s lap playing with musical toys. With limited sight, music and familiar sounds are his source of light and laughter.

Cash and Turner were born 25 weeks gestational to Ashley and Shane Clancy of Benton on June 20, 2013. Weighing just slightly more than 2 pounds, Cash’s body was no bigger than an iPhone, said his mother. During his 93-day stay in the Baptist Health Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, he received many blood transfusions because his body was too small to produce enough blood. When Cash was a few weeks old, grade 4 bilateral brain bleeds and hydrocephalus were discovered. At 6 weeks old, he had his first brain surgery to place a VP (ventriculoperitoneal) shunt to relieve built-up cerebral spinal fluid.

Doctors and nurses at Baptist Health NICU will forever be near and dear to the Clancys. “They took care of and worked tirelessly on our boys for 93 days to get them healthy enough to come home.”

Since his release from the hospital, Cash has been diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy in both legs and arms, and cortical vision impairment. He’s gone through eight brain surgeries – six of them through August and September this year – for shunt malfunctions. He has trouble swallowing and has been on a feeding tube because he has trouble taking food. He soon will have surgery to place a gastrostomy tube to provide a more permanent way to feed him. Turner, while also facing developmental difficulties, is progressing at a more average rate for their age.

Like any baby, Cash visibly enjoys the touch and sound of those around him and is especially entertained by his family. “Someone will sneeze and he will laugh out loud,” Ashley noted. “He loves to be serenaded. His favorite songs are ‘Jesus loves me’ and ‘God made the big round sun.’ He also loves to hear his sisters and brother. He’s the happiest boy I’ve ever met and his smile lights up any room.”

The couple who thought children of their own wasn’t possible now have a full house. Last fall, not long after the tumultuous birth of Cash and Turner, Ashley learned more unexpected news. She thought the sickness she was experiencing was due to gallbladder problems until her doctor confirmed she was pregnant. This spring she gave birth to a healthy girl, Sawyer – a big blessing in their “chaotic” lives, Ashley said. Shane has 10 year-old daughter, Harley, from a previous marriage.

During the weekday, Ashley works as a deputy prosecutor in the Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney’s office and Shane coaches football at Bethel Middle School in Bryant. Sawyer goes to Ashley’s mother’s house for care and Cash and Turner spend their day at Easter Seals of Arkansas in Little Rock. Both boys receive physical, speech and occupational therapies at Easter Seals. Ashley credits the boys’ everyday improvements to Easter Seals.

The most likely place to find the family during down time is in their living room playing with each other. On Sundays, they receive love and support from their church family at Northside Church of Christ in Benton. In addition to their church and Easter Seals, Ashley said she’s grateful for family. “We are so fortunate that our parents live within miles of us. Their love and support has lifted us up in many trying times.”

Having a child with special needs adds more of a financial burden on a family. The medical bills, home medical equipment and supplies, special formulas and adaptive equipment needed for Cash to allow him to have more independence can be financially strapping.

To help alleviate some of the burden, donations collected at this year’s Trail of Lights in Hurricane Lake Estates will be given to the Clancy family. From 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, anyone may come through the HLE neighborhood in Benton to view decorated homes. Donations will be taken upon entry to the neighborhood, where Mrs. Claus and her elves will greet guests. It’s the perfect time to kick off the holidays with Christmas treats and sights of beautiful homes decked out for the season of cheer and giving. Some houses are decorated elaborately, others are more whimsical and some even sync their light displays to the radio.

Each year, the HLE Property Owners Association seeks out a family or organization to benefit from Trail of Lights. Rebecca Jones, marketing and communications director at Saline Memorial Hospital and former classmate of Ashley, suggested the Clancys. The first Trail of Lights in 2011 benefited the family of Easton Begoon, who was 2 and suffering from leukemia. He is now in remission.

Debbie Sharp with the HLE POA organizes the event. “I still enjoy following Easton’s journey on Facebook and watching him grow,” she said. “We thought this was a great way for HLE to get in the holiday spirit and help a family in Saline County.”

Admission to the event is free and donations will be taken at the HLE front gate off Highway 5. For those who can’t make it on Dec. 6, donations may be sent to HLE POA, 6015 Worth Ave. Benton, AR 72019 with checks made out to the Clancy Family.

Residents may decorate how they choose for the event, but they are asked not to turn on their lights until the night of Trail of Lights, Debbie said. “I think they enjoy getting in the holiday spirit and decorating, and when you do this knowing you might be helping someone else, it takes the work out of it and makes it fun.”

Ashley said she and her family are looking forward to bringing more awareness to some of Cash’s conditions. “Cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, cortical vision impairment are words we had heard before, but they had no meaning to us before Cash,” she noted. “There are no words to express what this Trail of Lights benefit means to us. The closest one is ‘love.’ Knowing that others love and care for our baby is an overwhelming feeling. We are blessed to be part of a community that is so generous and giving towards its children.”

To follow Cash’s journey, visit www.facebook.com/crusadersforcash.