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SALT LAKE CITY — Five days a week, Chase Aagard is flat on his back in a darkened room.
"At first, I actually thought I had some kind of arthritis," he said.
Late last fall, doctors determined the pain Aagard was experiencing in his right foot had nothing to do with joint inflammation. They discovered a tumor.
"Got it biopsied and confirmed it," Aagard said with a slight smile. "Ewing's sarcoma."
Aagard moved in with family members in Lehi, who shuttled him back and forth to Huntsman Cancer Institute for daily chemotherapy. When he had to return home to Uintah County three months ago, he said he wasn't sure how he was going to make the 345-mile roundtrip drive to the hospital each day.
"My foot was in really bad shape, so I wasn't even able to drive," the 21-year-old said.
Fortunately for Aagard, his sister knew about TriCounty Health Department's "Wellness Wagon," which had formerly been dubbed the "Radiation Vacation Van."
"They make it so I can get (to treatment) quickly and I don't have to worry about transportation issues," Aagard said while riding in the program's minivan during a recent trip to Salt Lake City for treatment.
"Being able to focus on being a little more comfortable, maybe catch up on some sleep, that's been great," he said.
Since its start in 2008, the health department's medical shuttle service has taken 300 Uinta Basin residents to appointments at hospitals and clinics in Salt Lake and Utah counties. Patients pay nothing for their ride because the program is entirely funded by community donations and grants, said Natalie Feltch, who oversees the service.
Funding, however, is tighter than normal this year.
They make it so I can get (to treatment) quickly and I don't have to worry about transportation issues.
–Chase Aagard, patient
"There are not a whole lot of grants available for us to apply for, and I think a lot of people forget this is all run on donations," Feltch said.
The program's initial goal was to provide free, safe transportation to cancer patients. The service has since expanded, shuttling patients to appointments with a host of medical specialists not found in the Uinta Basin.
As of April 8, the nonprofit program had nearly $34,000 in its coffers, Feltch said. It takes up to $13,000 a month to operate, depending on how many patients need transportation services, she said. That means the program, which has seen an average increase in ridership of 19 percent since 2008, could be forced to shut down sometime in July.
Raegan Cutler knows what that would mean for the people she's met over the past two years.
"If they don't have a ride, people will not get the care that they need," said Cutler, one of two Wellness Wagon drivers. "They won't pursue it. This (van) is it. This is their only resource."
Without free, reliable transportation, Aagard said, his treatment plan would have likely been much different.
"I would have considered the option of amputating the foot, so it would reduce the amount of treatment time," he said.
Aagard has kept his foot, so far. He hopes to keep his ride.
"I'd have to try to find someone who would be able to transport me," he said, contemplating a worst-case scenario. "I don't know who would be able to."
The TriCounty Health Department has set up a donation account for the Wellness Wagon at Mountain America Credit Union. It has also established a GoFundMe account* to help raise money for the program.
*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
