Levi Murphy, Canton, OH

2014 Canton Rocktoberfest Recipient

On October 8, 2013, at only fourteen weeks old, Levi Murphy was rushed to Akron Children’s Hospital for an emergency blood transfusion, his white blood count dangerously high. His parents were still reeling from the diagnosis of leukemia they had received only hours earlier after taking him to the emergency room for a fever that wouldn’t go away. After undergoing ten hours of transfusion during which his survival seemed unlikely, Levi immediately began a steroid treatment; three weeks later he was flown to Cincinnati to begin his chemotherapy treatment. For six months his mother has been in Cincinnati, his father making the trip there from Canton with Levi’s two siblings when he could, only recently getting a leave of absence from his job to remain in Cincinnati with his family at the Ronald McDonald house. The funds raised at Rocktoberfest helped with travel expenses, house payments, and car maintenance, all things this family shouldn’t have to worry about as they try to keep their family together while their son fights to survive.
​
Update:  We are sad to report that Levi Murphy lost his fight on January 19, 2015.