Chadwick Folger
If someone would have asked me 40 years ago what I would be doing today, I am sure the answer would not have been what it turned out to be. I am one of four kids that were blessed with parents who instilled strong Christian values. My dad farmed and had a small angus cow herd. Mom made her career in the field of cosmetology. We lived in a small rural town in S. E. Alabama with a population of 3,000.
Outside of the farm and cattle, dad’s other love was baseball. From the time my brother and I could stand up, we had a bat and a ball in our hands. This is how we passed the time of day. We didn’t play with toys or watch T.V. We played pitch outside until it was dark. When mom called us in to eat supper, we took the game inside. When I turned 8 years of age, dad introduced me to showing cattle. From the beginning I enjoyed spending time at the barn. I wanted to learn all I could about my steers, and most of all I loved to brush. I’m certain dad knew I would like it. Unlike my brother’s personality, I was detail oriented, a perfectionist, and had all the energy in the world.
A couple of years later, dad took me to Louisville for the North American. The experience was absolutely amazing. The one thing that fascinated me more than any other was the amount of hair many of the cattle had. I left there determined to make the hair on my steers like that. Dad explained to me some of the things that might make it difficult for me to achieve this. First and foremost was the heat and humidity that was part of living in the deep south.
Dad added fans and misters to make the barn better equipped to grow hair. These things certainly helped, but it still couldn’t achieve what I was looking for. This is when we decided to call in reinforcements. Mom was the one person I knew that had extensive knowledge of hair. She went to work on it and a short time later I was given a quart spray bottle filled with a hair conditioning mixture. I had no idea what it was, but I was willing and able to try it. For the first time I began seeing noticeable improvement. This was the very first formula of what has evolved into ShowCoat. Over the past 30 years, the formula has been altered many times. As research led to new advancements in human hair loss prevention and treatment to cure Alopecia, mom made sure the formula was updated. For several years we used the products ourselves and would give some to friends and families that purchased a steer or heifer from dad.
Once I started college, I didn’t have time to stay involved with the livestock. As an athlete, all of my time was spent playing, practicing, and with studies. I enjoyed every minute of it but I missed being involved with the cattle. Dad continued to produce a few good steers each year, and I tried to find time to attend a show on occasion. After graduation, I began working with Owens Corning, a leading building materials manufacturing company. I used this as a stepping stone to start my own custom home building company. This also allowed me to move back home where the farm was.
On May 31, 1997, I married my amazing wife Kellie. She and I have three kids; Conner, Mary Grace, and Banks. Kellie is an incredible mother that has dedicated her life to our family and loves our kids to no ends.
As a Christian, I believe God has a plan for each of us. God placed Kellie in my life because he knew the time would come when our family would need a strong person to take control and to have the ability to multi-task on a whole different level. For our family this time was July 18, 2008. On this day not only was my future changed, but our family was changed. God had another plan for us. The day began just as all others, but the ending was drastically different. At the time I was building a home for a family on their farm. The farm was located in a rural area and approximately an hour from the closest town. Because of its location, I would take my lunch with me and would not leave until dark every day to get the most work done possible. After eating lunch that day, for some reason I felt the urge to leave early and go home. When I walked in the house, Kellie was shocked I was already home. We stood in our kitchen discussing supper plans when suddenly I collapsed. I had suffered sudden cardiac arrest. Kellie sent Conner into the neighborhood looking for help. As he passed through the neighbor’s yard he came across a group of cars parked in the street. A couple had just arrived and as they exited their car Conner asked if they could help. The gentlemen just happened to be a doctor. He followed Conner back to our house and immediately started CPR. Several minutes had passed and I had been deprived of oxygen for an extended time. When the ambulance arrived, they began working to restart my heart. They were successful and were able to begin transporting me to the hospital. I coded two more times while in route to the hospital. Upon arriving I was placed in a coma and the diagnosis was not good. Kellie was informed of my brain activity and the problems that were associated with my oxygen deprivation. She was told that if I woke up the chances of me being the same as before was highly unlikely. Kellie told me of the overwhelming support she received from our family and friends. Our church asked its members to pray for me and every individual left their seat and approached the pulpit hand in hand and began to pray. We later found out other area churches prayed in a similar manner. God had a plan and, in His time, I woke up.
This year will be the 10th anniversary of my incident. I am reminded often of the many blessings I have been given. I have been able to watch my kids grow into young adults, attend high school graduations, and our youngest Banks was able to get to know his dad.
Yes, I still have disabilities that will remain with me as a result of the oxygen deprivation. I am unable to work as I did before, but Kellie refused to allow me to accept I could no longer do anything. She encouraged me to find something to do each day that had a purpose. With her help I dedicated my time to researching ways to improve mom’s formula. With mom’s help, I had access to information. With the assistance of my personal Neurologist more contacts were made. Over the past seven years, the research has brought about the process required to procure our PCT Compound. This became the key ingredient needed to enhance cell regeneration on a molecular level. Our continued research has brought about additional uses for the compound. We have proven its effectiveness for treating alopecia and for minimizing hair loss on individuals who must undergo chemo treatments.
This was God’s plan for me all along. My passion for showing cattle wasn’t about increasing hair growth on my steer. It was the vehicle God used to enable me to reach out to others in need. •
