(LEX 18) — Nearly 900 miles away from Kentucky, a first responder family’s worst nightmare is unfolding in Florida after their two-year-old was diagnosed with leukemia during a family vacation.
In early April, Bailey and Sasha Combs traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida, with their sons, two-year-old Axel and one-year-old Bennett. Suddenly, Axel became sick.
"On our last day here at St. Pete, he had woken up that morning and he wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, wouldn't play, wanted to sleep. He had puked that morning too. He had bruises all over him. Like his stomach, his back. Places I knew he didn't do anything,’ Sasha said.
Alarmed by the sudden change in health, Sasha called the family's pediatrician, who told her Axel needs to go to the emergency room immediately.
“They had told us he has leukemia and that's what was wrong with him," she said.
Axel was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL)a form so aggressive, doctors told the family Axel wasn’t stable enough to travel back to Kentucky. He began his first round of chemotherapy immediately.
"It was very overwhelming, I just cried and cried and cried. It was so scary and all of these things like there's no way to prepare for it. Like that's not something you usually think about,” explains Sasha, who says she and her husband are still processing everything.
A family member also had to travel to Florida to pick up their son, Bennett, and bring him back to Kentucky. It’s been a month since Sasha has seen her little boy.
Since April 9, Axel has made St. Petersburg Children’s Hospital his home. Sasha says he’s undergone more than 50 procedures, and 40 of them have been blood transfusions.
"He has been responding well to the chemo. His labs and his blood have improved. They can't tell 100% how well it's improved until his last day which is this coming Monday. They'll do a bone morrow biopsy and a spinal tap again,” said Sasha.
Sasha is a nurse, and Bailey is a Kentucky State Trooper. For now, the family of first responders leans on the support of those around them. That help includes Florida State Troopers, who, after hearing Axel’s story, reached out to offer help.
"It leaves me and my husband speechless honestly,” said Sasha. “We're so grateful for everybody and you know just seeing all of that support back home that helps us you know, know that we're not alone in what we're going through and it's okay to ask for help."
Sasha explains how a week before the trip, Axel had his blood taken for swollen lymph nodes and an ear infection he was fighting. The results came back normal. The next week, he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Thankfully, Axel is being discharged on Tuesday, but this is going to be a long road ahead for the Combs family. Axel will need to continue more chemotherapy at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Sasha created a Facebook page, Angels for Axel, for people to follow along with his journey and support the family.
If you’d like to donate money, you can do so on these platforms. Sasha says scammers have created fake Venmo accounts. Any usernames with dashes in them are not authentic. Use the following accounts below to donate:
