With school coming back in session, most students are getting ready for the new school year. However 15-yearold Max Moore is focused on something more important.
Max was supposed to begin his sophomore year at Smyer High School, but after a doctor visit in April for what his family thought was the stomach bug, it turned out to be a lot more.
Max was diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive and rare form of soft tissue cancer that affects 350 to 400 children each year in the United States.
Max has had six procedures and has been undergoing chemotherapy at University Medical Center in Lubbock, but these procedures have not been entirely successful.
Now, the Moore family will travel to Dallas to continue to get treatment for Max.
Max’s mother, Karime, said “I think by the grace of God he took us to the hospital so we could find that tumor.”
Max plays football and basketball at Smyer and also loves to play golf with his friends.
But the Moore family is facing even more challenges than the cancer diagnosis.
The family’s insurance has denied coverage for Max’s recommended treatment and now needs the community’s help to cover medical bills, travel, and other expenses.
Numerous fundraisers including a block party and a fundraiser night at Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux in Lubbock, but the expenses are still piling up.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Moore family. “Every donation, no matter the amount, will go toward medical treatments, travel, expenses, and the countless unexpected costs that come with a cancer diagnosis,” said the GoFundMe.
Thus far, GoFundMe has raised $3,000 of the $13,000 needed for Max to receive treatment in Dallas.
If interested and able to donate to the Moore family the GoFundMe can be found at gofund. me/3c876590f.