The community is rallying around a Howland Township family after their son was diagnosed with a rare cancer. The diagnosis is so rare, that there have only been a couple hundred cases in the last three decades.

During his junior year, Kent State student Max Moriarty was unexpectedly diagnosed with Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors. Since being diagnosed, Moriarity has been going to weekly appointments and getting radiation.

“I came home for fall break, the first weekend of October. Had a couple doctor's appointments, just routine appointments, and then all of this just got discovered,” said Moriarity. “I’d say honestly about a 50-50 mix of my life. I get to be at home a lot, but I also have to deal with going to the appointments.”

The tumors grow in the abdomen and pelvic area of the body. According to the National Cancer Institute, only about 200 cases of the cancer have been recorded since the cancer was first described in 1989.

Because of the constant treatments and appointments, Max's family can't work while he recovers.

“Just overwhelming. But just for my wife and I to have to remain flexible through this, and just understand that we would just have to take this day by day. And that's essentially what we've been doing,” said Chris Moriarity, Max’s father.

Max is hoping to get a surgery in early 2025 to remove the tumors. His family is hoping the treatments will over before the summer.

“The hope is that at some time in early January, they’ll scan him to see how big the tumors are, and if they’re small enough, they’ll talk about removing them,” said Chris Moriarity.

With the help of community support, the family is staying positive about the treatments. Chris Moriarity works as a teacher at Hubbard High School. People at the school have done fundraisers to help the family.

Max's fraternity also helped raise money to help with medical bills.

“I’m involved with the fraternity and sorority community up there, and like I said, they’ve been a great help for me, I mean they started GoFundMe. They did all that arrangement without me even asking, and within 18 hours, it was already at $20,000 when they started it,” said Max Moriarity.

You can donate to the GoFundMe here.