HELP Kaleb Beat Cancer & reach schooling dream!

Hi, I am Kaleb’s mom, Jormarie, and I am here to ask for your help and tell you his story. Kaleb, 17, was diagnosed with a very rare bone cancer, Ewing Sarcoma, on July 8th, 2022. This happened after suffering for months with pain and swelling of his right leg and being told it was “growing pains” by doctors.

Kaleb is in his senior year of high school and will be unable to attend school. He has a highly aggressive treatment plan with chemotherapy requiring both overnight and 5-day hospital stays every other week. He is being treated at John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, 45 minutes away from home. The chemotherapy regimen is scheduled for a total of 10 months. He will also be undergoing surgery on his right leg, removing the tumor and the entire fibula bone, in October after completing three months of chemo.

The road to his diagnosis came on June 22. 2022 after being told by doctors for months that all he had were growing pains, I took him to see an orthopedic doctor, and she took x-rays. That same afternoon we were involved in a severe accident requiring him to be transported by ambulance to the ER. The car was totaled, and unfortunately, the driver that caused the accident by running a stop sign was an uninsured 16-year-old with a permit. All these things have created a great deal of financial burden on us as a family. Kaleb can no longer work to save for his car he so desperately wants or pay for the computer he purchased the same day as the accident. The computer was why we were on the road when the accident occurred.

Kaleb’s dreams are to open an Auto Repair & Restoration garage in the future. He hopes to complete both the Automotive Repair and Collision programs at Manatee Technical College. The overwhelming cost of treatment, travel and loss of pay has created a financial burden that will impact our ability to pay his tuition and fees. We would hate for him to acquire debt as an additional result of suffering from cancer this year. He would have been able to dual enroll this year, tuition-free, in the Automotive Repair Program at MTC, if he could attend school as we had planned.

He wants to own an honest, ethical, diverse, and philanthropic Auto Garage that offers opportunities for employment for people of all backgrounds, including diverse and formerly incarcerated individuals that would face difficulties in obtaining jobs and fair wages. Kaleb also wants to provide his services to people regardless of their income. He has a passion for helping those less fortunate and, in doing so, wants to break the stigma of dishonest, overcharging and misdiagnosing vehicles to make money at the customer's expense. He hopes to support causes including children with cancer, foster children and second chance programs for individuals with a criminal record as part of his business mission.

Kaleb is passionate about owning a 1990’s Nissan 240 SX to restore and practice what he learns. He was working two jobs and saving money for the car, but upon receiving his diagnosis and symptoms becoming more severe between the accident and the tumor in his leg, he had to stop working. Our world was turned upside with a multitude of appointments and then treatments to eradicate the cancer and to ensure he has the best chance possible for a full, healthy, and happy life in the future.

We greatly appreciate any contribution you can make. Tuition and fees will be over $20,000 for the upcoming year. We are currently facing over $55,000 in denied coverage by insurance for his biopsy, MRI, and surgery for his port used to conduct his chemo treatments. We are blessed to have insurance, but every claim has been denied. We also just received a bill for his ER visit from the accident, and our insurance has paid the max they will cover, leaving an outstanding balance of close to $3,000 thus far.

Anything we can collect will assist with medical bills, tuition for next school year, and, if possible, towards a car he can work on to practice his craft. Thank you for reading our story. We appreciate any assistance you can provide; God Bless!