6-Year-Old's Fight Against Leukemia Warming Hearts Of Frisco
FRISCO (CBSDFW.COM) - A six-year-old Frisco boy has captured the heart of the community. While battling cancer friends, neighbors, acquaintances and many who don't even know him have been fighting to pay some of his medical bills.
A recent t-shirt fundraiser at a Marble Slab featured 45-degree temperatures outside, but the inside was packed with kids.
Grayson Hughes had a few licks of bubble gum flavored ice cream. The six-year-old has been battling leukemia, but has recently been declared in remission.
Attempting to hold her squirming son in her lap, Kalee Hughes said, "Grayson's feeling good." Grayson laughed.
"He's kind of back to his ornery little self," Hughes said.
His mother says even though tests results show Grayson does not have any cancer cells in his body, Grayson still faces several more years of chemotherapy to keep the cancer from coming back.
Grayson was diagnosed with leukemia in September. He was five then and had just started kindergarten at Purefoy Elementary school where his mother is a second grade teacher. She's been on leave because of her son's illness.
"You never think it's going to be your child, ever. It still doesn't feel real," Hughes said.
Hughes' family has insurance, but very large bills are starting to arrive. So far, they've only received a bill for Grayson's first week in the hospital. It added up to more than $100,000.
He's spent many more weeks in the hospital since then.
Word about the Hughes family spread through Frisco where friends, friends of friends and business banded together to try to help ease the families worries over mounting medical bills.
Kerry Hovland of Von Anthony Salon, who's never even met the Hughes, put together a $5-a-ticket raffle worth $3,000 in gifts by asking neighboring businesses to donate.
"Classic Jewelers' Bob, next door, he gave a $900 watch right off the bat without any hesitation," Hovland said.
Then, there was the t-shirt fundraiser at the Marble Slab on Eldorado.
Holly Landry was there. She was a friend of a friend. Then she met the Hughes and became a friend.
'We're just a part of such a tight knit community around here that when you hear of someone's suffering in any way you just feel like helping," Landry said.
It only proves even in an ice cream shop on a cold day in December, there are warm hearts in Frisco.
Grayson will pick the winning raffle ticket himself on Tuesday, December 20 at 5 p.m. inside the Von Anthony Salon on 7004 Lebanon road in Frisco.
To find out more about Grayson and the Hughes family, you can read their blog at http://www.whenskiesaregray.com/
