This mid-week palate cleanser is just what we need.
In my April 24 Feel-Good Friday column, I spotlighted a story about an Alabama teenager named Will Roberts who is fighting stage 4 osteosarcoma, a rare form of aggressive bone cancer. Will posted a video on his mom Brittney’s Facebook, saddened that the chemotherapy was having no effect on stopping his cancer, and distraught that it had spread throughout his body.
Will asked for people to share this video in the hopes that it might reach Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or President Donald Trump. Will wanted a Right to Try an experimental treatment called DeltaRex-G, which was only available in California.
Here’s the good news: Will Robert’s video not only went viral, but reached the eyes of President Trump and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, who arranged for Will to receive treatment for this drug at the Cancer Center of Southern California.
Here’s how it went down:
West Alabama businessman Ric Mayers, a Trump ally, leveraged connections to reach Dr. Mehmet Oz, CMS Administrator. On April 24-25, Oz personally contacted DeltaRex-G developers, securing special compassionate use approval in just three hours—bypassing the typical six-month process. A telehealth call confirmed access, and the family prepared to travel to Santa Monica. This rapid response underscores the Right to Try Act’s potential when political will aligns with innovation, cutting through bureaucratic delays that often doom patients like Will.
Read More: Feel-Good Friday: AL Teen Seeks ‘Chance’ to Beat His ‘Deadly’ Bone Cancer, Now He Has Pres. Trump’s Ear
Will had to wait about a week until his platelet levels were at a certain place. Because Will would be away from the only home he has ever known for a significant amount of time, he wanted to do some of his favorite things and say goodbye to family and friends. Through the tremendous generosity of those who contributed to the Roberts’ GoFundMe, and generous help and support from Alabama representatives such as Congressman Barry Moore (R-01) and Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), on Sunday, Will and his parents Brittney and Jason, flew out of Alabama and headed to California.
Another generous angel offered to supply the Roberts a place of residence close to the Cancer Center, as Will continues his journey toward a cure.
On Monday, Will received his first dose of DeltaRex-G and is responding well so far. Brittney Roberts wrote on her Facebook page:
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.
And if there’s one thing I know for sure today…We are exactly where we are supposed to be and I have hope.
Thank you all because you all are the ones that are making this path easier for us to walk. Wills [sic] platelets were up to 80,000 so we were able to have the first dose of DeltaRex-G. We will return tomorrow and Wednesday and have all three doses completed for the week. If his body handles the dose and his platelets reach at least 100,000 then chemo will be added along with DeltaRex-G next week. Keep praying that the right people in places that matter will see the promise behind this drug and approve it for access in Alabama.
Will once again took to his mother’s Facebook to thank everyone who prayed, shared his video entreaty, and contributed to his healing journey.
WATCH:
DeltaRex-G is a tumor-targeted gene therapy which has a great chance to replace regular chemotherapy as a standard treatment for all forms of cancers, but particularly the aggressive forms that do not respond to standard treatments. But as indicated above, it is currently in limited use. According to the Aveni Foundation, the philanthropic organization raises the money to produce the drug, and then supplies it on a charitable basis to patients in need. Currently there are no insurance or pharmaceutical avenues which could assist its wider distribution. Bottom line: corporate bureaucracy and government red tape hinder the ability for this life-changing drug to gain wider access.
Brittney Roberts discussed this on her Facebook, and rallied her followers to take action.
Start contacting your law makers in your state. Push for this drug. It’s currently being used in two other countries with government approval. Its developer is here in the United States. She has traveled to other countries to get it approved and accessible but can’t in our own country because of funding and a lack of approval by the FDA.
We have to do better. We have to push for this. People are prisoners to chemotherapy and this is a more promising choice for certain types of cancer. The deadliest ones that are rare and not a quick turn around profit for investors. We need someone to run with this that has financial means to back it and doesn’t do it for wealth but for what’s best for the people in this country suffering from cancer daily and ripping families apart just trying to sustain life and survival at the same time.
For Will’s Wednesday visit, he received a huge surprise. Someone arranged for the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT Team to come alongside Will, and spend some time as he received his medicine.
Hella cool.
Such another amazing day with beautiful weather. Charlie is on the mend back home with no fever. We made it safely to clinic and Will is receiving dose number 3 of DeltaRex-G today. Next week we will begin administering it along with chemo.
Today came with a surprise waiting on us when we arrived….Thank you to all of our support out here in California because y’all lined up members of one of the LAPD Headquarters SWAT teams to come hang out with Will during treatment today.
When you’re a teenage boy sitting through cancer treatments, getting to talk gear, tactics, training, and hear stories from guys you instantly look up to it does more for the soul than medicine ever could.
These men didn’t have to take time out of their day to show up for a kid they barely knew all the way from Alabama but they did and for a little while today, treatment seemed nothing like “a treatment”.
People keep asking how we’re making it through this journey. It’s because God keeps sending people to carry pieces of the load we can’t carry alone.
Today was another reminder of that.
The Aveni Foundation website has video testimonials of people whose lives were saved through this gene therapy, even those who were in the late stages of their disease. So, there is great hope that Will Roberts can win this cancer battle and go on to live a fuller life.
Continue to pray, and follow Will Roberts’ journey here.
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