Jeff Glase ADA - Law officers are getting wet in an effort to raise funds for a former Pontotoc County sheriff stricken with an cancer.
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City residents have the chance to dunk local officers in a tank every Friday as a way to raise money for the former sheriff and Konawa Police Chief Jeff Glase as he battles glioblastoma, a rare brain tumor.
The Ada Police Department, Pontotoc County sheriff's office, Pontotoc County district attorney's office and the Ada Fire Department are sponsoring the weekly fund-raiser in conjunction with radio station KTLS 106.5 FM's Summer Survivor contest.
The fund-raiser will last through the summer.
"As police officers, we try to take care of our own," said Ada officer Dewayne Campbell. "He's not the first, and he won't be the last we help out in a time of crisis."
Marcia Glase, Jeff's wife, said the family, including daughter, Jenae, 25, and son, Tim, 26, has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support.
"It was a shock," she said. "I didn't know they were going to do it."
Marcia Glase said the money will go toward medical bills and medicine.
About $5,500 has been raised so far, Campbell said.
For $1, people have three chances to try to dunk an officer with a ball, he said.
Jeff and Marcia Glase were at the dunk tank the first two weeks, but might not be able to attend this week's event because Jeff started his first round of chemotherapy and radiation Wednesday, his wife said.
She said she hopes the people of the community realize how much they appreciate their help.
"I think it's wonderful," she said. "They've helped us so much."
Jeff Glase, 53, first realized something was wrong on April 13 when he thought he was having a stroke, Marcia Glase said. The tumor was discovered after an MRI was performed. A biopsy was completed, and it wasn't until recently that doctors were able to diagnose it as glioblastoma, Marcia said.
According to the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute, glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of tumor affecting the glial cells of the brain. It does not spread throughout the body like other forms of cancer.
Doctors can't operate on the tumor because it is inside Jeff's brain, Marcia Glase said.
Speech and vision loss usually occur with the cancer, which Jeff has experienced, she said. Jeff worked in the Pontotoc County sheriff's office for more than 20 years and was the sheriff for Pontotoc County from 1992 to 2004. He was the Konawa police chief for about two weeks when he had his first seizure on May 11.
