Fish Hawk boy with rare form of leukemia cleared for life-saving transplant after sister was found to be match

TAMPA, Fla. - When 12-year-old Colton King was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, his 16-year-old sister turned out to be the perfect donor match for a bone marrow transplant. Now, he's cancer free and in remission, which means doctors can now move forward with what could be a life-saving bone marrow transplant. 

The family's story first came out in September, and they said the overwhelming support from the community made all the difference. Thousands of people from across the world have been lifting Colton and his family through the Facebook group Care for Colton. 

His mom Stacy King said she and her family turned to the messages on their toughest days. 

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"I feel like my life froze, and other people's lives have moved on, but they haven't moved on. They're walking with us. They're praying. They're crying," Stacy said. "I can't tell you how many messages I got of people crying with the news about Colton because people really do care."

Colton's mom has posted every update on his journey in the group. Tuesday's post was one she couldn't type up fast enough when she learned that her son was officially cancer free.

"I don't think he believed it. He goes, 'Mom, we've had so much bad news.' And he was like, ‘really? Like, Are you serious?’ He goes, ‘We can go to bone marrow.’ And then his next thing was, ‘I need a celebratory pizza,’" Stacy said.

Colton lives for baseball, but hasn't been able to step on the field since last season when he was diagnosed with a form of leukemia. It's rare his mom said his pediatric oncologist has only seen one other case in his 20 years of practice. It means the bone marrow donor must carry a rare 514-gene.

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His 16-year-old sister Kaylee is a 100% match, but before doctors can perform the operation all the cancer had to be removed so for months he's been undergoing immunotherapy at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa. 

Now, that he's in remission doctors are ready to perform what could be a life-saving operation.

"It has truly been heartbreaking to watch a 12-year-old boy just have to go through something so difficult and so painful," Stacy said. "And yet, like he never complained, and he was so tough and so strong and just did what he needed to do. And so kids are resilient. You don't realize what they have in them."

Currently, Colton is home from the hospital. He'll be able to spend Christmas with his family, which is the first holiday they've spent together outside the hospital. 

On December 27, he'll head to AdventHealth for Children in Orlando. Then, on January 5, they will perform the transplant. He and his mom will spend the next four months living at the hospital.