Finish the Run honors lost nurse, promotes safety

Remembrance of a life tragically taken too early while making others aware of protecting themselves were goals of Finish the Run organizer, businesswoman and mother Janet McNece.

The recent event in Poplar Bluff honored a young nurse who was giving her life to serve others, but was murdered by someone she knew.

Learning of the Aug. 17 murder of nurse Sydney Sutherland in Arkansas angered McNece.

The 25-year-old was killed while on a jog in a rural area. A suspect has been arrested by authorities and is in custody.

McNece decided to turn her anger at the tragic loss into something positive in the woman’s memory. The death touched close to the mother of four’s heart. Her twin daughters are young nurses who exercise in rural areas.

The local event was centered around making people aware of how to stay safe and “about positivity,” McNece said

“The biggest thing was awareness,” McNece said. “Judy Jackson, along with Dr. Chad Casey, spent an hour demonstrating ways to stay safe.”

“Judy Jackson was a trooper and presented an hour-long self defense class,” she said.

Jackson has Warrior Strength and Power. Casey owns Focus Physical Therapy.

Jackson and Casey’s self defense program was live streamed and may be watched on McNece’s Facebook page.

McNece wanted to show tips about how to stay safe while living, working and traveling in a small rural area.

Jackson’s emphasis was helping one be more aware of surroundings, McNece said.

Attendees learned about “using your voice to alert other people,” as well as not allowing earbuds to restrict hearing what is going on around you.

McNece said, if Judy helped one person be more aware of his or her surroundings and trying to be alert to other people, the event was worth it.

Since not everyone wants to learn to use a gun for protection, McNece wanted to help arm them not only with knowledge, but show them alternative protective items. She presented some of the attendees with devices designed to help them stay safe.

McNece and a friend of Sutherland designed special Finish the Run shirts for the event as well as masks for nurses to wear during the COVID-19 pandemic.

McNece purchased the shirts to give to people who attended the run and masks for area nurses. In doing so, $3,000 went into the nursing scholarship established in Sutherland’s honor at her nursing school in Arkansas.