“I am still so in love with him. Cameron was such an amazing man. He was all about giving back and was a jack-of-all-trades. I will do what it takes to keep his name alive.” – Chastity Sayre
LANSING, MI -She cried while at a recent meeting with the American Heart Association. She told the story of how she met Cameron “Big Perm” Doyle. She, Chastity Sayre, had been dating Big Perm who was a local rapper for 5 years, when he died at age 34 on June 2, 2012.
Sayre said, “He is the love of my life and I know that he would have been so proud that his friends and people who love him are still thinking about him.”
At age 24, Sayre said that Big Perm’s death was something that she never thought that she would experience. While she is still dealing with his death, her determination to honor him is strong. She retold her harrowing story of driving him to the hospital and recounted his last words, their last kiss and his last breath.
She said, “I am still so in love with him. Cameron was such an amazing man. He was all about giving back and was a jack-of-all-trades. I will do what it takes to keep his name alive.”
During a conversation with Big Perm’s friend, Brandyn “B Unique” Armstrong, about the outcome of the meeting and the walk, Armstrong told Sayre to contact the association and set up the walk. It was their first walk.
Armstrong said, “It has been a difficult time for all of us. We wanted to honor Big Perm by joining together for this walk. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about and miss my best friend, this is just one of many ways to keep his memory alive.”
The American Heart Association is the largest voluntary health organization working to prevent, treat and defeat heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. According to the association, these diseases, the nation’s number 1 and number 3 killers, claim more than 865,000 American lives a year.
Sayre and over 35 other friends, walked to raise about $500.00 for the American Heart Association. Sergio Arambula was at the walk with his wife and young son. He met Big Perm through another friend.
Arambula said, “The employees of Darb’s Patio in Eaton Rapids where I work also donated to the cause. It shows that we all want to work together regardless of where we live in Michigan.”
Arambula also invited Angela Studebaker from St. Johns, MI who walked with her family and a family friend for “Team Perm”. She knows what it means to be a survivor. Her ordeal started on October 7, 2010, when she was admitted to the hospital for an overnight stay with high blood pressure issues.
She was scheduled for a stress test on October 15, 2010, the day after her divorce was final. During the stress test she began to feel pressure and tightness in her chest. The cardiologist told her to go to Ingham Regional Medical Center immediately.
Studebaker said, “The whole time I was thinking this is just a maintenance type of thing and my father had a lot of heart catheters, no big deal. I remember laying there and looking up at a monitor and thinking, ‘WOW, is that my heart?’ and moments later saying it out loud.”
Not long after going to the hospital the doctor told Studebaker that she was going to need to have open heart surgery.
“I really didn’t think about what that meant. It didn’t register until after the medication wore off. Then I was overwhelmed with emotion. I wasn’t able to leave at that time. I was there until it was over,” said Studebaker.
She remained in the hospital for 11 days.
Studebaker said, “It amazes me how quickly your life can change in an instant. I was working a 40-hour a week job, raising two pre-teen daughters, and the only real stress in my life at that point was the divorce that I was going through. I led a pretty normal life for a lot of people. Then in one brief moment, my world changed forever, and so did the lives of my family and network.”
Sayre, Studebaker, Armstrong along with the rest of the walkers were bundled up as the sky threatened rain during the walk.
Studebaker said, “Breathing in cold air increases my chest pain because cold air constricts, if you have a scarf or something over your face it allows you to breath in warm air which keeps blood vessels from constricting.”
The participants braved the weather and as they posed for a group picture in the light drizzle, the conversation was about being more healthy, family, friends and responsible for themselves.
“I hope to make this an annual event,” said Sayre. “It is important that I do something really positive in his honor. I really miss him a lot but events like this help me move forward to the best of my ability.”
