Marine who suffered a head wound in Iraq last year is teaming with a group of friends to help a Lawrence man pay for the medical costs of brain cancer.

“We’re trying to help him so he doesn’t have to pay for this for the rest of his life,” said Lance Cpl. Ryan Chapman, speaking of his former Lawrence High School classmate Chris Newman.

Newman currently is in an Indiana hospital undergoing a monthlong intensive chemotherapy treatment, Chapman and other friends said. Newman was diagnosed with testicular cancer about a year ago. The cancer has since caused a brain tumor, and he underwent surgery a few weeks ago, Chapman said.

A benefit concert is planned for Newman and will take place at 9 p.m. Thursday at Eight One Five Cafe & Nightclub, 815 N.H. It will feature the bands Mr. Bilistic & Bri-J, Da Bomb Squad and 3AM. According to a flier being passed around town, the cover charge will be $10. Inside the club a table will be set up with a container where additional money can be donated for Newman, Chapman said.

Newman’s medical insurance isn’t enough to cover all the costs associated with his treatment, friends said.

Chapman was wounded last year when he was struck in the head by a sniper’s bullet during the battle for Fallujah, Iraq. The bullet got under his helmet, fractured his skull but did not pierce it before exiting through his scalp. After spending time in a German hospital he was sent home to recover. Today he is working in the Marine recruiting office, 2223 La.

Chapman said he didn’t know what to think about how he escaped what could have been a more serious injury or even death, while his friend wages a personal battle for life against cancer.

“Stuff happens, and it’s a fact of life,” Chapman said. “It’s whatever God’s plan is that is going to happen.”

Chapman and other friends Newman has known since they were LHS students in the late 1990s organized the benefit.

“He doesn’t know about this, because if he did he wouldn’t let us do it,” Chapman said.

Newman worked at the Sonic Drive-In, 1015 E. 23rd St., and more recently at PepperJax Grill, 947 N.H. Many current and former co-workers plan to attend.

“A lot of employees here worked with him, and we’ve all sent him cards,” said Lawrence Burton, manager at the Sonic.

Chapman has handled his emotional “ups and downs” with cancer very well, said Megan Becker, an employee at PepperJax.

“His spirits are very high for somebody who has cancer,” Becker said.