The Tale Of A Walking Stick, A Gift Card, And A Brick Girl's Smile

Find out what's happening in Brickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On the way to the shop, Tim told Emma that Ray Kerico, one of the partners, had something for her.

“When we went to pay, I said to Ray, ‘My dad told me you have something for me,’ ” she said. That’s when Ray slid the gift card across the counter. “They told me the whole stroy about the guy who needed the walking stick for beach, and how he bought the gift card.”

That guy was McCallum. The Lavallette resident, who turns 59 on Monday, has fought two battles with cancer: testicular cancer in 2000 and a second go-round in 2018 that doctors told him was an offshoot of the first cancer.

In 2018, “it was around my aorta and major organs, so they couldn’t do surgery,” McCallum said. Instead, the doctors attacked the cancer with an aggressive chemotherapy regimen to knock it out of his system.

One of the side effects, however, was permanent nerve damage in his feet.

“It’s not an everyday thing,” said McCallum, who also had a stroke in 2005. “But sometimes when I walk on the beach, people sometimes think I’m drunk because I struggle to get my balance.”

After searching fruitlessly online for a walking stick to meet his needs, McCallum turned to what some would consider an unusual source: Bob Hryszko, who builds custom fishing rods at Grumpy’s.

“I said ‘What is the possibility you could do this for me?’ “ McCallum said, and Hryszko responded to the challenge.

“He built me a walking stick that is just amazing,” McCallum said. “I can get around on uneven surfaces like I couldn’t before.”

The stick is a solid black from handle to top, with black trim at the top and bottom, similar to the rods Hryszko has built for him.

“To the average person it may look like nothing but to me it’s 4 feet of gold,” McCallum said.

When McCallum went to pay for the stick, however, the crew at the store refused to charge him.

“For those who don’t know David, he’s one of the most giving, loving, and sweetest people in the fishing industry,” Kerico wrote in a post on the shop’s Instagram account. “David came to pick it up and we wouldn’t take a cent for it. It was a gift to him.”

(Article continues after the photo)

“I was more than willing to pay whatever they would charge,” McCallum said. When they refused to accept money, he came up with a solution: buying the $100 gift card.

“I got the gift card and slid it back across the counter and said, ‘Now you’re going to give this to someone deserving,’ ” McCallum said.

“This caught us off guard but it wasn’t surprising knowing David,” Kerico said, calling the gift card maneuver sneaky.

“I made it very specific to Ray — It’s going to a child. Please find someone who’s really into fishing who would really enjoy this gift card,” McCallum said, adding he loves seeing kids get into fishing.

Kerico said he knew right away that Emma was that child.

“She’s extremely into fishing and it’s awesome to see,” he said.

“We saved it for this event and man was it special!” Kerico wrote on the Instagram post. “This giveaway made this little girl’s day and we wanted to show our love and appreciation for our good friend Dave! You made this little girl’s day! Smile my friend!”

Emma said she’s already started to put the gift card to use, picking up a rainbow-colored pencil popper (a lure that creates a lot of splashing to attract fish) and some pink and blue Halo teasers, a “Wonder Bread” lure from S&S Bucktails (so named because of its coloring) and some other small, pink fish.

“She picks her fishing gear based on what’s the most sparkly,” said Sara Dluhos, Emma’s mother. “And she’s usually the most successful” on the fishing trips.

Sara said Tim takes Emma and T.J. fishing frequently during the year; in the summer they go almost weekly once school is out.

They went fishing on Thanksgiving morning, Sara said, and the pride in her voice came through as she said it was Emma who caught the only fish, a big striped bass.

“My dad said I caught it on my unicorn lure,” Emma said with a giggle.

“To see the smile on that girl’s face is everything,” McCallum said. The 2018 cancer diagnosis “was definitely a very frightening time. Five years later, I’m still above ground.”

Giving is everything, he said, whether it’s sharing his photography on his Barrier Island Seascapes Facebook group or sharing what helped him battle through the cancer and everything that went with it.

“The best thing I got out of it is helping people today who are going through cancer and giving back to them. I’m giving back now everything everybody gave to me.” he said. “Money to me is really nothing without being happy. If my pictures make a thousand people happy that’s worth more than a hundred dollars.”

“After everything I’ve gone through, I see things a little differently than most people,” McCallum said. “I just like making people happy. I don’t know any other way.”

Have a comment, a question or a news tip? Email [email protected].

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

Click Here: Canterbury Bulldogs Jersey