An Alabama teen flew to Los Angeles for life-saving treatment in his fight with stage four bone cancer after the Trump administration stepped in to help.
Will Roberts, 15, made a plea for help on his mom’s Facebook page on April 22, appealing to the president and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“I’ve been fighting osteosarcoma for the last 16 months. It’s a very, very, very deadly and very hard-to-treat bone cancer,” he said in the video clip, asking for help from anyone with connections to the White House.
“My chemos are just not working, and I’ve been fighting it for a little bit now, January of 2025. And not much is working,” Will continued, adding that his mother had been researching an experimental drug.
“We’ve tried basically everything there is, and we’re getting toward the end of the road, and I need help.”
An Alabama oil tycoon and real estate developer, Ric Myers, saw the message and forwarded it to Trump, AL.com reported.
It then spread across the administration — from First Lady Melania Trump to Kennedy to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz put the family in touch with the Sarcoma Oncology Center in Santa Monica, which offers “innovative clinical trials and experimental treatments to offer hope for those facing hard-to-treat cancers.”
Will made an appointment and flew across the count for treatment, thanking his backers for helping get him to the Golden State.
“Man, y’all care so much for me to get this drug and I appreciate it so much,” the teen said in a video posted to Facebook.
He’s expected to receive three 30-minute treatment sessions per week as he aims to overcome his cancer.
But the medical costs are enormous. The treatments will cost the family $500,000, the Daily Mail reported, and they’ve already spent $100,000 on travel expenses and other medical expenses alone.
The family launched a GoFundMe campaign, which had raised more than $661,000 of its $750,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon.
Will’s mother expressed gratitude on Monday to the people who helped the family along the way.
“We didn’t come to California for comfort. We came for a chance but what we’ve found here… between the people, the doors that have opened, and the peace we’ve felt walking through them that it’s been so much more than that,” she said.
“And if there’s one thing I know for sure today…We are exactly where we are supposed to be and I have hope,” she added.