Get Well UPDATE 2: It was mentioned during Fox’s broadcast of the Coca-Cola 600 by Dr. Dick Berggren, that Shawn Parker’s wife, Tara, is in a Winston-Salem hospital. Mrs. Parker is listed in critical condition and has A-1 status on heart transplant, which means she is the next person on the list when one that will match her comes available. Parker is the Car chief/Rear tire changer for the #6 Roush Racing team and driver Mark Martin(5-29-2001) UPDATE: Shawn Parker, was poised to leave the race on a moment’s notice. Parker’s wife, Tara, is on the priority list for a heart transplant. She had two hearts become available in the past couple of weeks, but doctors thought one was too small and the other carried hepatitis. Team owner Jack Roush has his plane on standby to fly Parker out if he receives word his wife is heading into surgery.(Richmond Times Dispatch)(6-4-2001) UPDATE 2: Shawn Parker, the car chief and rear-tire changer for Mark Martin’s #6 Ford has been balancing his time between his race duties, shop duties and husband duties the last few weeks. Splitting his time between the shop just northeast of Charlotte and Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C., Parker said the waiting has been tough. “All she can do is just wait,” he said. “She’s on medicine right now to help her with the congenital heart defect. The best way for me to explain it is, she doesn’t have a full-size heart like most others do. She already had open heart surgery in July last year to put in a new heart valve and make some repairs. As she grows and gets older, it’s tough to keep up with the surgeries because her body changes. Since that surgery, she’s had problems with other organs because the heart can’t provide enough blood to them. As the heart she has now deteriorates, the only thing that can help her is a heart transplant.” Shawn, 27, and Tara, 26, met at Daytona Speedweeks in 1994. He was working on Rusty Wallace’s team and she for Winston promotions. An unplanned meeting between the two clicked and they have been together ever since. Married last November, the couple now reside in Cornelius, NC. Some of the factors involved for matching a heart include blood type, size and age to make a true fit with a donor. Tara currently experiences shortness of breath and fatigue from most types of physical exertion. As she awaits her possible life-saving phone call, Shawn makes a daily 130-mile round-trip from Monday through Wednesday to see his wife, then leaves Thursday for the races.(see full story at NASCAR.com)(6-11-2001)
