What began as a search for a family truck has turned into a display of overwhelming generosity as local citizens Toby and Tana Coile donated a classic 1985 Square Body Chevrolet Truck to the family of Matt Cash, whose two year old son Memphis is battling brain cancer.
Cash and Coile were mere strangers before this event. The connection was made when Cash started to track down the owner of the truck.
“My father bought the truck when I was 16 years old. It was brown and tan, the motor was blown up. At my mom and dad’s house, we had it pulled down to nothing but a frame. Had the cab swinging from a tree out in the front yard and started putting it back together,” said Cash.
“As life went on, and you start having kids and stuff like that, I turned loose of it. At the age I am now, I’ve kicked myself in the rear ever since.”
After calling up owner after owner, trying to find who still had the truck in their possession, eventually Cash got into contact with Coile.
Coile had purchased the truck for him and his wife to ride around in when they spent time together. While in their possession, they made a number of upgrades to it as well. This included a new lift, motor, speakers, etc.
Due to these upgrades, the asking price for the vehicle sat around 30k -32k when Cash finally got into contact with Coile. While the negotiations halted there, the conversation continued, and Cash shared the fact that it was a vehicle given to him by his father. He also told Coile of his two year old Memphis, who had been diagnosed with brain cancer.
“He shot me a price, and I said, man, there’s no way that I could do it. Even if I didn’t have what I got going on, I have a son that back in the August of ‘20 was diagnosed with brain cancer, and we’ve been battling with that ever since, and there’s just no way I could turn loose of any money like that,” said Cash.
After getting off of the phone, Coile and his wife discussed, and ultimately felt called to simply give the truck to Cash free of charge. Coile also added that “Brown’s Chrysler Dodge in Minden fixed a couple things on the motor free of charge. They donated that and the Browns are an awesome group of people.”
As Coile put it from his recollection of the conversation, “We can’t imagine going through that. St. Jude’s telling him the only thing they can do right now is make memories.”
“When we saw his little face on Facebook, it was like, sold. We have to give this to him, it’s his truck,” said Tana Coile.
“The thought of him not having it to spend time with his little boy. I just think little Memphis will get a lot more enjoyment out of it than me and Tana would. It’s materialistic stuff to us, but it’s sentimental to them,” said Coile.
“Not long after getting off the phone, she said, I think we just need to donate it to them, and I said, If that’s what you want to do, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Cash stated, “Wasn’t but just a few hours later that he called me back and said man, me and my wife want to donate this to you, your son, and your family.”
After deciding to donate the vehicle, Coile reached out to Sheriff Jason Parker to help organize a place to hand off the vehicle, and to help bring out others to support Memphis and his family.
“What a feeling to see this little boy get in this truck and have the reaction he is having. We may think that we have problems and issues everyday, but we’re blessed, we’re truly blessed,” said Sheriff Parker.
When asked what his plans are with the truck now, Cash said, “We’re going to clean it up, take it to some shows.” Here Cash paused, collecting himself as his son’s situation weighed on him. “We’re going to let him have a hell of a time.”
If any are interested in keeping up with Memphis Cash as he fights his battle, the family has a Facebook page set up where they post updates on how the little one is doing at www.facebook.com/memphisaltoncash/.