VALLEY GROVE - For most participants, a pinball tournament at Xtreme Suzuki and Kawasaki in Bellaire was a chance to win a new all-terrain vehicle. But for Valley Grove resident Rory Roush, it was a chance to fight for his wife's life.

In April, Roush's wife of 15 years, Marsha, was diagnosed with a chronic illness. Extensive damage to her liver meant she needed 11 months of chemotherapy treatments, which she began in September.

"Anybody who's had a family member go through this knows the medical expenses are just outrageous," Roush said. "The out-of-pocket expenses each month are well over $200."

Roush was already working two jobs to make ends meet when he found out about the pinball tournament. There was no entry fee, and the grand prize was a candy apple red Suzuki King Quad FS 400, which has a retail value of $5,399. Roush said he would have loved to have the vehicle for himself, but when he entered the competition, his thoughts were on his wife.

While growing up, Roush had been fond of playing pinball in bowling alleys, restaurants, bars or anywhere with a machine. He imagines he's spent thousands of dollars on games over the years.

"Everyone else would sit and gab, and I'd play pinball," he recalled.

Each week in October, the top eight competitors won a chance to come back for the pinball finals. Roush came in first place on the first week, scoring nearly 60 million more points than the closest competitor. For weeks, he kept practicing and put his faith in a Celtic cross charm he'd kept in the pocket of his blue jeans since his wife's diagnosis. Roush credits his faith, not his practice, for his ability to defeat 31 competitors and take home the ATV.

Roush knew the victory was the easiest way for him to earn cash to pay for his wife's treatment, and when he arrived home from the tournament, he pretended he'd lost. One of the former owners of Movie Madness in Wheeling, Marsha Roush reassured her husband that she was proud even if he'd only brought home a hat.

"As I laid down my wallet on the table, I said, 'I got this, too,' and showed her the pink slip for the bike," Roush said. His wife was overwhelmed with joy, jumping on the furniture and leaping into her husband's arms.

One of the most difficult parts of Marsha Roush's diagnosis has been letting herself rest rather than work, she said. Before running Movie Madness, she had a business called Maid for the Stars near Orlando, Fla., where she cleaned for stars like one of the Bee Gees, James Best of "The Dukes of Hazzard" and Curly Neal of the Harlem Globetrotters. The April day she received her terminal diagnosis, she had been hired at the AT&T call center at The Highlands. Marsha Roush now considers her husband her hero for all the work he's put into raising money to fight her illness.

Roush is taking bids for the ATV until Dec. 21. Anyone interested should call Roush at 304-909-0056.

"No one would ever get a better deal," Roush said. "Anybody interested in 10 or 20 percent off the showroom price would make me happy and make them happy."