'Bubba' Davis honored by his many friends

'Bubba' Davis honored by his many friends
KEITH WHITCOMB JR.
Posted: 05/28/2010 11:06:44 PM EDT

Friday May 28, 2010

BENNINGTON -- After 17 years of surviving because of dialysis treatments, a man who touched the lives of many in the area was given a final farewell Friday that included personnel from two ambulance services and a motorcycle procession.

Robert "Bubba" Davis, 50, of Morgan Street, died May 22 after deciding to stop his dialysis treatments three days earlier.

A friend, James Lawton, said Payne EMS and the Bennington Rescue Squad personnel got to know Davis quite well over 17 years, having saved his life on a number of occasions when his illness would cause him to "crash." After years of dialysis treatments, Lawton said his friend's health began to decline, prompting him to opt out of treatment.

Lawton said the average person lives about 4 1/2 years on dialysis without a kidney transplant. Davis' kidneys had shut down completely, and toward the end of his life his treatment sessions would last between four and five hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Davis was an inspiration and symbol of hope to other patients on dialysis, said Kiah Morris, another friend. Davis began dialysis treatment at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass., and started having them at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center when it opened its dialysis center.

Because he was on dialysis so long, Lawton said doctors had to find new places on his body to hook the dialysis machinery to. A technique was developed in which they went through the back
Advertisement
because there was no more room on his arms and legs.

Davis came to Bennington from Springfield, Mass., in 1980 to attend Southern Vermont College. After graduating, he worked as a bouncer at the Ramada Inn in the building that now houses the Grace Christian School.

Limo driver, assistant at the Vermont Veterans Home, and work at 204 Depot St., Bennington Schools Inc., and the Bennington Coalition for the Homeless were some of Davis' other jobs.

What he did for work was less important than the effect he had on people in everyday life, Lawton said. One indicator of the impact the man had is the Facebook fan page Lawton created in February.

Facebook, a social networking Web site, allows users to create accounts sharing personal information as well as "fan pages" that allow users to talk about and share information on any number of topics.

"I knew he couldn't interact with it because he was at the point where he was getting sicker by the day, so I came up with the idea of a fan page," Lawton said. He said the page kept people updated as to Davis' condition.

Davis, who had friends scattered across the country, was also not the sort of person to let others know he was ill, his friend said. Lawton said Davis didn't like to pass his bad days onto others, and so kept his troubles to himself.

Lawton related a story about them going to a restaurant after a round of dialysis one day, and Davis collapsed in the parking lot from low blood pressure. Davis woke up, brushed himself off, and went into the restaurant as though nothing had happened, Lawton said.

Davis' fan page, which has more than 273 watchers, was used to inform people of Davis' decision to stop the treatment. "I finally had to tell them that he had made a decision that Wednesday that he was done," said Lawton.

The page is replete with comments and stories about Davis. "Everyone has a Bubba story," Morris said.

Carrie Percey, a fan, related the story of one day when her young daughter was sitting on Davis' lap. "When was intently studying his skin, then proceeded to try to wipe it off," Percey said. "Bubba realized what she was doing and let out a big rumble of laughter, and said, ‘That doesn't come off, sweetheart, no matter how much you rub it,' and then he explained to her why his skin was different from hers, and she listened to every word he said and he answered every question she had."

Lawton said organizing the funeral so close to Memorial Day would have been hard, had not people who knew Davis lined up to help. He said hotels donated rooms to his family, a restaurant donated a meal, another a party venue, and others made sure the Davis family had gas money for the trip.

The motorcycle escort, Lawton said, was a nod to Davis' dream of being a rider. He said that for a year the dream came true when he learned to ride from Lawton, but his health soon made regular riding impossible.

Davis had two children, who live in Bennington, Imoni and Miles Davis. Lawton said doves were released at the funeral, and Imoni Davis, 15, read a poem dedicated to her father.

Contact Keith Whitcomb at kwhitcomb@benningtonbanner.com.

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/ci_15186154?source=rss_viewed