9-Year-Old Boy Battling Rare Form Of Leukemia, Oklahoma Police Departments Raise Money

Chaundra Dixon’s 9-year-old son, Michael Dixon Jr., is fighting for his life in Texas. Law enforcement members in Oklahoma are trying to help.

MJ is battling a rare form of Leukemia and needs around the clock care. Dixon is a single mom, and she works overtime to make ends meet.

“The doctor said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but your son has cancer,’ At that point in time I think I spaced out. I don’t remember to this day it was a black out,” she said.

MJ is going through 12 months of intense treatment, doctors in Texas said it’s critical for his survival.

“He ended up turning 9 in the hospital and it was just crazy because it seemed like that month in the hospital I was like, ‘Is this my sons last birthday?’” said Dixon.

MJ is testing out trial drugs, immune therapy and fluid treatments to buy time. The only path to total remission is a bone marrow transplant.

“I look at the statistics and I look at the odds and I find out that a Black person only has 22% chance of survival,” said Dixon.

When they aren’t in the hospital, Chaundra and MJ host bone marrow drives.

“My son needs a Black donor and the very few Black people that showed up they were either too old or they had medical conditions where they couldn’t be a match,” she said.

To help with the cost Dixon said she was forced to take out her life insurance and start a GoFundMe.

The Chickasha Police Department donated $500, and the Tuttle Police Department donated $2,000.

“Our officers said he had a family member who had come down with leukemia. His family was also our family so we wanted to do whatever we could to help out and ease the burden,” said Shana Berryhill, a detective with the Tuttle Police Department.