The Joey Guest Memorial Foundation - The Change Starts With You 9-20-2025

This Foundation is in memory of the late Joey W. Guest. Joey was born June 29, 1969 in Cleveland, TN and moved to Martin when he was 3. He was always the life of the party and loved his family and friends. He loved sports more than anything, especially The Big Orange Football or watching his Capitals on the ice and of course you can't forget about over the fence homeruns at Dodger Stadium. Joey grew up playing baseball on rec leagues but most of all, his passion was playing football for Martin Jr High and continued playing under Friday night lights till the end of his Westview High School years till he graduated in 1987. He went on to continue his studies at the University of TN at Martin but didn't finish..at first. Later he went back, graduating from UTM in 1999 with a degree in Communications . He loved his motorcycle and if he wasn't on it, then you could bet there was either a rod & reel or a camera in his hand. He was a sports writer for the Weakley County Press for a number of years till he had an opportunity to work for a marketing company for Nascar. After 5 years with that he decided it was time to come home to be able to spend more time with his son. After all, he was playing football now too and dad had to be there to watch. He loved life and made the best of it, the best way he knew how. He was a member of the Sons Of The American Legion and was always there to help when needed for anything. On February 20, 2011, tragedy struck and Joey was out on his bike not knowing that would be his last ride. Joey was an amazing father, brother, son, and husband and couldn't ask for a better friend. We all miss him everyday and this memorial run helps keep his memory alive for all of us friends and family alike. I know he wouldn't have it any other way and he would be so proud of what we have accomplished so far.

Shawn Brown was born August 31, 2007, as a reunion baby following 913th’s 2005-2006 deployment to Iraq. His parents had put off having a baby so that his mom could deploy with her unit. He was four weeks early, but at 9lbs, 2oz and 19 inches seemed healthy and strong. Two hours after birth, Shawn was cold and hard to warm up. By the next morning, Shawn could not maintain his oxygen levels and was taken by ambulance from Union City to Jackson General’s NICU. Shawn had Pulmonary hypertension with no known cause. Shawn had improved by day 5 and was off the ventilator, but tumors were visible in his tiny heart. Shawn had a brain CT and MRI, a kidney scan, and an eye exam. He was diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis, a genetic issue that leaves Shawn unable to make a protein that inhibits Benign Tumor growth. This causes Shawn to grow tumors in different parts of his body, to include three different types of brain tumors, two types of kidney tumors, eye tumors, and skin tumors. The original cardiac tumors were estrogen sensitive and resolved after birth. Seizures caused by intermittent electrical activity in two of the tumor types began at four months with hundreds of infantile spasms each day. These were stopped by Vigabatrin (at the time this drug was not legal in the US and had to be purchased from Canada). The second seizure type began about eight months and was unresponsive to medications. He was having, up to about 40 seizures per day. At two years old, Shawn underwent a right frontal lobe resection. This stopped the seizures for 18 days and Shawn was able to walk for the first time, three days after surgery. This surgery greatly reduced the seizures, but regardless of trying over fifteen medications and having a VNS implant, Shawn never achieved seizure control. At age ten he was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, the most severe type of childhood Epilepsy syndrome. This means Shawn has multiple seizures, of multiple types, daily. He was unresponsive to medication and unable to maintain a continuous abnormal background EEG pattern. As a result, Shawn is unable to speak, although he can understand your speech, feed himself, etc. Shawn requires total care from his parents to complete daily activities. His additional diagnoses related to TSC and LGS include Pervasive Developmental Delay and Kanner’s Syndrome/classic Autism. Shawn did not grow like other children, but with life threatening seizures this probably didn’t get as much attention as it should have. He was ultimately diagnosed with hypopituitarism and hypothyroidism. Shawn’s body cannot make the hormones he needs to grow, maintain temperature, blood sugar, or bone density. He must be given the hormones that his body needs, some orally and some through daily injections. The growth hormones, combined with the seizure medications that rob calcium from his bones, led to Shawn having osteoporosis. He’s broken his leg and arm multiple times, as well as his pelvis and ribs. Most recently, Shawn broke his right hip, requiring a plate, bolts and screws. Due to the healing hip fracture Shawn was unable to walk for some time which reduced his bone density further, causing a femur break in the same leg. This was repaired with an intramedullary nail with three extra screws and required a second surgery to remove bone fragments. Shawn can now straighten both legs and is working very hard in physical therapy both with and without his new leg braces to regain his independent ability to walk. Children with LGS and TSC together often don’t walk, but Shawn’s mobility is very important to him and so he is very determined.

In 2011 we lost an amazing friend. It didn't take long to decide we needed to keep his memory alive by doing what he loved to do, helping others. In no time, family and friends got together to form an annual poker run to benefit families for whatever they may need. Whether it's to help with medical expenses or setting up a trust fund for a child who lost a parent, or anything in between. In the last 14 years we have raised just over $181,000 and we're not done yet. We hope to continue this event for many years to come. Joey left behind a legacy and we plan to keep his memory alive by continuing to help families who could use our help each and every year. 14 years ago most of us barely knew each other's name. Now we are all FAMILY!!