FAYETTEVILLE — Social media certainly has its positives and negatives, but one of the good things is to make friends with people you never met.

This the case with avid Razorback fan Paul Hawkins. He’s battling liver cancer and his organs are shutting down with doctors telling him he has less than a month to live. Hawkins wanted to get a message to Sam Pittman. He reached out to me and wanted Pittman to get his message before Hawkins loses his battle with cancer.

“I would like to write him a personal letter telling him how much I admire him, from his personal standards, to how he handles the team,” Hawkins said. “And his dedication to Arkansas. Things have changed drastically here. I won’t be able to get that letter to Coach Pittman. I am proud that he is the coach. To me he represents everything Arkansas. I believe in him.”

Hawkins is originally from Foreman and said his entire family were Hog fans. In a day and age where every play is scrutinized and often criticized, Hawkins says it’s time for him to go home. But it was important for him to let Pittman know that he appreciates what the head coach has done and is doing at Arkansas.

One thing that Hawkins was wrong about when he told this reporter he wasn’t anything special. In a day and age of when everything that is written or said is criticized, Hawkins is truly a breath of fresh air and here’s hoping prayers can truly help him defy the doctor’s odds.

“I’m really not anything special,” Hawkins said. “Just a die-hard Razorback fan. The one thing I remember most clearly is the great shootout. It was my birthday that day and I cried like a baby when we lost.”

When Hawkins was in Foremen he coached Tracy Lawrence some in youth baseball. He admitted when he was young he had a rule he never strayed from and true Razorback fans can understand it.

“I was so bad when I was a kid, I wouldn’t ask a girl out if I knew she was a Longhorn fan or Aggie,” Hawkins said.

Cancer sucks and took my mom from me. While I never met Paul I will say that was my loss, he praised me as a reporter, but it is fans like Paul Hawkins who deserve the praise. If the doctors are correct and Hawkins loses his battle with cancer, Heaven will gain a Hog Caller and someone who certainly is a true star in my eyes. He found the good, not bad, in things. That to me makes him very special despite his words he isn’t.

I love you Paul Hawkins and sorry you are going through this. You are what a friend and fan is all about. Please pray for Paul to defy every odd and win this battle.