Houston community supports Oklahoma firefighter fighting cancer, in need of rare O-negative blood
Oklahoma firefighter battling cancer raises awareness on blood donor shortages
A firefighter from Tulsa, Oklahoma is at MD Anderson in Houston battling a rare form of cancer. His treatments now include getting blood transfusions every day but his specific blood type is rare. His family said when the hospital was running low on supply, Houston came through. FOX 26's Natalie Hee spoke with the man's father.
HOUSTON - A firefighter from Tulsa, Oklahoma is thankful for the outpouring of support from the Houston community after thousands of blood donors came forward to help him with his cancer treatments.
Harrison Moseby, 25, requires daily blood transfusions, but with a rare O-negative blood type, the hospital's supply was running low last week.
Moseby's father, Jim, says an online call to action on social media lead to thousands of donors.
"They had an insane amount of response to that, probably so much so that they were getting overwhelmed with that, and they've got appointments booked for a while," Moseby said.
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In April of last year, Harrison was diagnosed with a rare and often aggressive type of soft tissue cancer.
Less than two weeks ago, Harrison and his wife also welcomed their second daughter.
"While he was there at the hospital with his wife and she was delivering the baby a few hours later, he had to go to a different hospital in Tulsa to get a transfusion at that time. He was diagnosed 14 months ago with epithelioid sarcoma. It's a rare form of sarcoma. It affects the soft tissue," Moseby said.
Harrison has received treatment ranging from chemo to immunotherapy.
Last September, he had a biopsy on his shoulder where the cancer started. The incision has had issues healing.
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"Due to the treatment with the chemo that incision has just opened up. It's about three inches by one inch and due to that opening, he's just started having quite a bit of bleeding," Moseby said.
Moseby says the bleeding hasn’t stopped since. In fact, it’s bled so much, Harrison’s now having blood transfusions up 12 to 18 hours every day.
Moseby said doctors are working around the clock to get Harrison’s bleeding under control. Until then, his chemo treatments are being put on pause.
"Without the chemotherapy right now, that cancer is just kind of doing what it wants to do. It's going unchecked," Moseby said.
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In a statement, MD Anderson said, "The blood supply at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center currently is at normal levels; however, our ongoing need for blood and platelet donations continues – especially around holidays and during the summer months.
MD Anderson performs more blood transfusions than any other hospital in the country. All blood donated to the MD Anderson Blood Bank is used to treat MD Anderson cancer patients in need.
Appointments are available daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at our Holly Hall donation center and blood drives are hosted throughout the community. Visit http://mdandersonbloodbank.org to schedule an appointment or call 713-792-7788."
Anyone interested in helping the Moseby family can click here.