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Remembering extraordinary courage Charity pool tournament to be held in honor of diabetes patient By BOB HUNTER Ben Brackin Jr. was an ordinary guy who showed extraordinary courage as he faced death. His friends and family say they won't let that kind of courage slip away unnoticed. Brackin, 38, of Sams Valley died April 23 from, as his obituary said, "complications of diabetes and renal failure." A memorial service will be held today. "Complications" is a much too clinical term to describe what Brackin went through in the final years of his life. Diagnosed with childhood diabetes at the age of 10, he ultimately lost two legs and parts of several fingers to amputation, had a hip replaced, underwent a pancreas transplant and a kidney transplant and "sometimes spent more time in the emergency room than he did at home," according to Dr. Bruce Van Zee. Van Zee, who treated Brackin for eight to 10 years, said his patient grew in his eyes even as his body slowly but surely gave way to the ravages of the disease. "He was not one of those guys whose illness begins to dislodge the strength of their character," Van Zee said. "He was the opposite - it almost seemed to build the strength of his character." Dr. Charles Versteeg, an orthopedic specialist, concurred. "He was an amazing guy who put up with a lot," Versteeg said. Robert Angel, a fellow 1981 Eagle Point High School graduate and longtime friend of Brackin's, said his dying buddy was more worried about the people he was leaving behind than about himself. "He told everybody he didn't want it to be a sad thing," Angel said. "He was thinking about us instead of himself. That's just the way he was." Angel said Brackin, a carpenter and jack-of-all-trades, volunteered to help people with projects and building plans, even as he was dealing with growing medical and physical problems. "He always went out of his way. He was just real giving of himself." One of Brackin's passions in life was playing pool. So Angel and another friend, Gary Rogers, organized a pool tournament to raise money for the Rogue Valley Kidney Dialysis Patient Fund. The tournament will be played Sunday, May 20, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Time Out Sports Bar in the Winco shopping center (formerly the Kmart Plaza) in Medford. A scholarship fund for Eagle Point students has also been established in Brackin's name at Wells Fargo Bank. Reach Mail Tribune editor Bob Hunter at 776-4460, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.