LONGVIEW (KYTX) - The Longview community is stepping in to help support a cancer patient and his family.
Steven Crawford won a battle against leukemia, and is now fighting another one against lymphoma.
Crawford calls his 5-month-old daughter Baylei his reason for living.
"This is what makes every day worth while," he says as he rocks her in his arms.
He cradles his daughter for the first time in days, in front of a teary-eyed crowd of his family, friends, and community members.
"This event right here is for my husband," says Steven's wife Kelsey. "He was diagnosed with leukemia 2 years ago and about three weeks ago he was put on hospice. They said that the treatment they had done no longer worked, that he had developed a virus after his stem cell transplant. So this fund raiser is to help me and Baylei for the future expenses we're going to have, and for the rest of our lives because he's not going to be here for that."
Steven made a grand entrance to his fund raiser on a motorcycle. The street was lined with loved ones and supporters.
"I turned that corner and saw all those cars and it was surreal," he says. "Hearing all those people hollering and screaming, it was pretty phenomenal."
He says the amount of support from his community is simply overwhelming.
"You always wonder in life, what's it going to be like passing to the afterlife, whether you're going to be respected or not. I said that's a sign of respect. They said, you got a lot of friends," he says.
As community members put in bids for the silent auction, bought T-shirts and donated money, Steven sat cradling his baby girl.
Kelsey says, "The look on his face when he sees her is something that we'll never forget. She'll never remember it, but it's something that all of us that have seen it will always remember forever."
It was a day to celebrate life, celebrate the present, and cherish every single moment.
The Crawford family estimates that $50,000 was donated Sunday at the fund raiser. That money will pay for Steven's medical bills, and help support Kelsey and Baylei in the future.
If you want to donate, there is a fund set up under Kelsey Crawford's name at the Woodforest National Bank in Walmart.
