Cary rallies around Georgia teen who needs double lung transplant
CARY, North Carolina (WTVD) -- The Cary community is rallying around a sick teenager from Georgia battling end stage cystic fibrosis.
Stay on top of breaking news stories with the ABC11 News App
Toby Stacy, 15, was diagnosed with the disease when he was just 2 months old.
He has been in and out of hospitals ever since.
Click here to donate to Toby's GoFundMe page
"I can't really run, and I can't laugh really without coughing," he said.
"When you see your child struggle to walk down the street without gasping for air, it breaks your heart," said Toby's mother Marsha Jackson.
When Toby's condition worsened last December, he went to UNC Children's Hospital where doctors put him on the double lung transplant list.
"We could not go back to Georgia," said Jackson. "He said we needed to stay in North Carolina because it was too far away."
Desperate for financial help, Jackson took to Facebook looking for cheap clothes for her son while her husband stayed behind, working to keep the family's insurance.
They never expected what came next.
"It was just a flood of clothes and household items and personal hygiene things and gas cards. I'm tearing up," said Jackson. "We hadn't experienced anything like that before and total strangers just coming to our door."
A few weeks ago, Garage Brothers in Cary helped put on a massive yard sale raising thousands of dollars for Toby's post-transplant medical care.
"Very amazing," Toby said.
"Everybody in the area has really gone out of their way to help us," said Jackson.
The community is pulling for Toby as he waits for a new pair of lungs to save his life.
His family takes comfort knowing they are not alone.
"We are surrounded by love in this community. It's coming from every direction, and it makes us feel like we can get through anything," said Jackson.
