Monroe County boy diagnosed with leukemia, community rallies to support

Family says diagnosis came as a shock as fundraisers and donations pour in to help 12 year old Tybee Morgan

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Monroe County family is leaning on community support after a 12 year old boy was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Tybee Morgan is described by those close to him as a fun loving kid who enjoys the simple things in life. From hunting and fishing to playing sports and spending time with family, they say he is always full of energy.

“He’s always really happy, always smiling, kind of brings light to gatherings and that kind of thing,” said Dr. Jason Smith, Tybee’s uncle and pediatrician at Primary Pediatrics. “He’s a great little kid.”

Last week, during a routine checkup, Smith noticed something was not right.

“He was really pale and other than that, he had some fatigue recently,” Smith said. “Other than that he didn’t have a whole lot of symptoms, so just when we ran his blood for his routine checkup it was concerning.”

That is when the family received devastating news. Tybee was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer that can develop quickly. His family says the diagnosis came as a shock.

Since then, the community has stepped in to support the family. Jocelyn Singletary, a medical assistant at Primary Pediatrics who knows Tybee and his family, says people are finding ways to help.

“The fundraiser is to kind of offset some of the cost, you know considering his diagnosis and everything,” Singletary said. “His parents want to be there with him so to kind of help take the burden off of them.”

A GoFundMe page has also been created and has raised more than $13,000 so far.

Tybee is expected to undergo treatment for about a year.