Help a Reedley 17-year-old facing stage 4 cancer receive treatment
REEDLEY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Family and friends are asking for donations for a 17-year-old senior from Reedley High School who is battling testicular cancer, to get him to a treatment center in Mexico.
According to the GoFundMe, Malachi Rios, the 17-year-old from Reedley High School has been battling stage four testicular cancer since November 2022.
The GoFundMe goes on to say that Rios was forced to miss his last two years of school to confront his cancer. It says that through it all, Rios has remained steadfast and as positive as one can be given the circumstances.
Despite enduring standard treatments, high-dose chemotherapy, stem cell therapy, and surgery to remove lymph nodes, his cancer has returned and has mutated into a rare and platinum-resistant form, according to the GoFundMe.
Testicular cancer typically has a 95% cure rate but Rios falls into the remaining 5% of that statistic, the GoFundMe said.
There are limited treatment options available in the U.S. for Rios’ rare form of cancer, so his family has turned to the Hope4Cancer Treatment Center in Cancun, Mexico.
Rios’ treatment plan found on the GoFundMe includes;
a three-week outpatient clinic treatment that costs $27,800
Sono-Photo Dynamic Therapy that costs $7,500
and Photo Dynamic Therapy Plus which costs $9,300.
To help Rios receive treatment, people can donate to the GoFundMe, here.
