Stealth car restoration revs up spirits

By MARK WOOLSEY
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/15/06

Chris Petroskie's friends blocked his view of the approaching car.
When it got close enough, they stepped aside and there it was — the beaten-up 1991 Firebird that had been in his garage.

Woodstock resident Chris Petroskie is a cancer patient whose friends fixed up his 1991 Pontiac Firebird Formula car for him as a surprise and gave it to him at a car show a few weeks ago.    

Petroskie was stunned. Mechanics had made the old car look new. It gleamed in the sun, perfectly restored, looking like something set to roar onto the test track.

Petroskie's friends and family cried.
A self-described "gearhead" who lives in Woodstock, Petroskie had planned to restore the car himself, but disease robbed him of time, energy and money. Battling cancer and without insurance, he already had sold two of his prized restored cars to pay medical bills. He just did not have the money or strength to pay attention to the Firebird. So the car sat idle, its paint flaking.

As a gesture of support, his buddies in the Atlanta Camaro and Firebird Association conspired to spirit the car from Petroskie's garage.

Then they took turns over several weeks restoring it at a parts-and-restoration business in Easley, S.C.

They delivered the finished product a few weeks ago at a get-together in Social Circle, about 45 miles east of downtown Atlanta, arranging a police escort to accompany the Firebird they'd restored for their ailing friend.

"Everybody that worked on that car broke down and cried," said Bob Rahl, one of Petroskie's closest friends and an officer of the car club. "There were hugs all around."

Petroskie's friends said they were moved by his uncomplaining, even cheerful, attitude through several rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and stem cell transplants.

Bald-headed and slight from repeated bouts with Hodgkin's lymphoma, Petroskie still seemed in a bit of a daze two weeks after receiving the surprise gift.

"I couldn't believe they'd do something like that," he said. "They're a great group of people."
Car club members said that since joining them in early 2000, Petroskie had been an inspiration, helping with restoration projects, holding forth with advice and giving away parts when another member needed them for a project. His admiring buddies elected him "best member" for 2006.

"He'd help anybody out, and he never asked for help," said a beaming Rahl, "and that's why we did what we did."
The club also did a charity car show, with proceeds going to Petroskie, after he was diagnosed in 2002. Other car clubs have also chipped in, and individuals have made donations, but it's a hard road, both financially and physically, for the native of Hershey, Pa.

Emory's Winship Cancer Institute has helped with what it has designated a charity case. But Petroskie is expected to pick up a large part of the treatment costs, plus his own medication costs. He said the bill for his last stem-cell transplant alone added up to $214,000.

"And this last round has been a harder battle," said his wife, Amanda Stensland. "He's not as strong and has lost a lot of weight."

Dragging himself to work through multiple rounds of treatment, Petroskie finally weakened to such a point that he quit his longtime job at a Norcross printing company in February.

Not long afterward, his wife arranged to have the car taken for some "minor" work to Hawk's Third Gen Parts in Easley, where owner Bob Hawkins agreed to help.

Ten club members spent the next several weeks driving to the garage to tear apart and rebuild the car. They even gave it a new paint job — creamy white.

Petroskie kept asking what was taking so long, why the car wasn't back if it only needed minor work. His friends and family twisted the truth a bit about unexpected problems that needed to be addressed.

Petroskie and his wife said the restoration lifted their spirits.
"It's more than a car club," Stensland said. "It's family."
Meanwhile, driving the restored Firebird to doctors' appointments, car shows or just around town also provides a strong emotional lift.

"We get a lot of thumbs-ups and waves," Stensland said