BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WALB) -The Bainbridge community is showing up in a big way for a little boy battling cancer. Twelve-year-old Dahani Hicks has T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL), and since receiving his diagnosis, members of the community have began fundraisers to help the Hicks family during this challenging time.

Dahani’s mother, Aubree Hicks, says their journey with cancer began with a misdiagnosis.

Aubree took Dahani to the doctor when he complained of breathing pains, and she says that they left the doctor’s appointment after being told that his lungs were perfect. That was not the case though. Dahani had a stage three mass that the doctors did not see.

“[The doctors] said that it was something wrong with his stomach or his GI tract even though it was hurting when he breathed, and I knew that wasn’t normal,” Hicks said.

A day after the doctor’s appointment, Dahani was rushed to the hospital from school due to lack of oxygen, and his mother says when they got to the E.R. they received earth shattering news.

When they did the chest X-ray, they saw the pneumonia, and they saw the fluid. At the time they were calling it a mass because they didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t until we got to Macon that they said it was a tumor.

Dahani was diagnosed with stage three T-LBL. Cancer is this family’s new normal, but Aubree is grateful to everyone that has supported her son and his fight.

She says, “When you go from working, to not working at all, they can pretty much see the struggle in that. I have to say that I’ve had a lot of people to look out, and I really appreciate that from the bottom of my heart because I don’t know how I would be moving forward as I am.”

There is a GoFundMe and T-shirt drive set up to help support the Hicks family on this journey. All proceeds will go towards supporting the Hicks’ as Dahani continues his battle with cancer.

Click here to purchase a T-shirt. The last day to support the T-shirt drive is Saturday, March 1.

The goal for the GoFundMe has been met, but the family is still accepting donations. Click here to donate to the GoFundMe.

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