Mickey Starling
reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com
Will Carpenter is a bright young man who is a resident of Live Oak, Fla. He is now terminally ill with a rare form of bone cancer. The following message was posted on Facebook by Carpenter’s aunt, Laura Arant. Please read the entire message and share it with as many people as possible. This is our opportunity to encourage Carpenter and brighten his days.
“I used to joke that I had a horrible birthday because it was literally right after Christmas, but now I will forever remember that my birthday last year is when we got the devastating news that my nephew was diagnosed with an extremely rare terminal cancer - FOX1/PAX3 fusion positive Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. One year ago, Will had a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship and was a freshman at the University of Central Florida, majoring in engineering. This beautiful kid was a top swimmer, an avid competitive fisherman and absolutely loved the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2021, my lovely sister called to casually let me know they may be a little late for Christmas Eve dinner, as Will had very swollen lymph nodes from his sinus infection and they were getting them checked out at the hospital. Needless to say, they never made it to dinner. Since then, this kid has gone through hell. He left school for treatment, endured endless weeks of extreme chemotherapy, radiation to the face, spine and shoulder, countless hospitalizations, taken methadone, morphine and suffered unfathomable body pain, and now has a G tube so he can just simply eat. The cancer has now been deemed Chemo/treatment resistant and has completely spread throughout his bones. I struggle to find words to describe this living hell and the pain in watching it happen. Through it all, Will has been positive, funny and chastised my sister and me when we dare to ask why God did this to one of our children. We have exhausted every avenue - top cancer facilities, along with world renowned western and homeopathic oncologists. Now, I’m asking for a miracle and for us to flood this sweet boy with love and prayer. I’m asking that you have everyone you know send Will a card, letter, small note, anything you want. Let him know he’s loved, prayed for…give him hope, make him laugh. Ask your church, Sunday school, book club, elementary class, neighborhood, ask everyone. He told me not long ago that one of his biggest regrets is not talking more when he was healthy and getting to know people better. Please share this story and change that for him.
PLEASE HELP ME FLOOD HIS MAILBOX WITH LOVE – SEND LETTERS/CARDS TO:
WILL CARPENTER
P.O. Box 835
Live Oak, Fla. 32064
Absolutely no money or monetary gifts of any kind. I’m only asking to flood him with love and prayer.”