October became Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1985 after The American Cancer Society partnered with the pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries. First Lady Betty Ford helped kick off the then week-long event. She herself was a breast cancer survivor, who was diagnosed while her husband Gerald Ford was President, which brought a lot of attention to the disease. Estee Lauder cosmetics held the first nationwide campaign in 1992 using the pink ribbon. They handed out 1.5 million ribbons and ushered in the pink ribbon as the premier visual reminder of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The initial goal was to give women (and men) the facts about breast cancer and early detection methods so they could stay on top of their health. Early detection saves lives. The movement has grown to include medical organizations, government agencies, and nonprofits, working with survivors and supporters on fundraising efforts for research and education. These events raise millions of dollars each year for the cause.
Throughout the month (and year) there are walks, runs, truck shows, and many other events that raise money for research. There are also a few trucks out there that promote the cause all year long. I think there are very few people who haven’t been touched by this awful disease, be it a mom, sister, daughter, aunt, other family member or friend. But for this month, my story is about Ryan Gonnella and the tribute truck and trailer he built for his mom, Edith.
First off, we want to give thanks to Kyle Schutte at Transportation Services Inc. in Sacramento, CA for the lead to this story. Kyle contacted us about the tribute truck they were doing for Ryan and the importance of the story behind it. They had worked on other trucks for Ryan, but they knew how special this one was going to be. TSI is a family-owned business specializing in collision repair, refurbishing beverage trailers, small body repairs on trucks, full restorations, and doing some awesome custom work, as well. A friend of a friend referred Ryan to TSI years ago, and they have been working together ever since.
At 18, when Ryan was looking up to older friends in trucking, he went to work for one of them. Running hard, he learned a lot in those early days. Edith (Edee) raised him as a single mom and was always supportive and encouraging to Ryan. The work ethic she instilled in him paid off, and five years later, in 2015, he got the opportunity to buy his own truck and start his own business, Gonnella Trucking Inc. Since then, the business has grown to 17 trucks, with about half of them being super tag dump trucks, and the other half bobtail 5th wheel trucks pulling end dumps, walking floors, semi bottoms, and tipper trailers. He always told his mom that one day he would build a truck for her.
In 2008, Edee was first diagnosed with breast cancer. There was surgery to remove the tumor in her left breast, but no radiation or chemotherapy. After being cancer free for ten years, it returned in 2018. This time they removed her left breast, along with the lymph nodes, and she got radiation and aggressive chemo treatments. A year later, they got the good news – cancer free again! Two years later, in July 2020, a third bout of cancer was found in her breast muscle, where the breast had been removed in 2018. There was surgery to remove as much muscle as possible, and then more radiation and chemo. Three months later she was told the cancer in the muscle was gone. In October 2020 she went for a mammogram and doctors told her she was once again cancer free.
Unfortunately, just two short weeks later, she found a lump the size of a golf ball on her right breast, and this time the doctors told her it was stage IV cancer and that it had spread to other parts of her body. This was her fourth diagnosis, but she was still fighting! She had surgery to remove her right breast, and then started radiation and aggressive chemo treatments. They told her she had three months to two years to live.
In January 2021, Edee’s pectoral muscle became infected and created an open wound. Home care nurses came in three times a week to clean and bandage the wound. Three months later, doctors gave her a special machine to drain excess fluid from the area 24/7, because the wound wasn’t healing. The pump weighed two pounds and was carried like a shoulder strap purse. A home care nurse still came often to change the dressing and clean the machine. After it caused many problems, the pump was removed, then home care nurses came to attend to her wound every 24 hours, 7 days a week. Thirteen months after the final diagnoses of stage IV cancer, she passed away on February 3, 2022. But she was a warrior to the end!
Before she passed, Ryan flew to Florida to buy a 2017 Peterbilt short hood with a 550 Cummins and a 13-speed. It was an old car hauler with a flat roof. He then sent one of his guys out to bring it home. Edee knew this was the truck he was going to build for her. Jim Sisemore pulled off the car hauler rack and took off the bunk and made it into a day cab. It was the start of what would become a special tribute to a very special mom.
TSI took over the transformation, cleaning up the cab kit, and putting the roof cap back on. Ryan didn’t want a pink truck and decided on a light gray color that he saw on a ski boat to contrast and make the pink accents stand out. Painting the frame pink, they also added a pink boomerang stripe, that included a pink ribbon on the side of the hood. They call the truck “Pinky” or #12, which was for Edee’s birthday (June 12). Sadly, Edee passed away before she could see the finished truck.
This is the truck that Ryan proudly drives now. He pulled a walking floor trailer with it for a little while, but due to the harsh off-road conditions, it was decided that it would be too hard, over the long term, on a show piece like this, so he bought a food grade tanker. Kyle and his team at TSI stepped up and got the trailer matched perfectly to the truck, which is a stunning combination when it is all together. Ryan plans to haul wine with the new tanker, and his pit bull June (named for his mom’s birthday month) rides with him everywhere.
Edee must be proud of all her son has accomplished and what he has done to honor her after she stepped up and became both his mom and dad while he was growing up. She worked hard as a dental assistant to provide a good life for her son, and had and adventurous side, too, owning and riding her own Harley. This rolling tribute won’t just be out here in October, but all year long, for many years to come. Look for them around the Sacramento, CA area and, if you see them out on the road, give them a big thumbs up in honor of his mom!
