Harvey is a loving husband and a devoted father to four daughters. He worked hard his entire life to provide for his children while always making time to attend school events and sports.
After experiencing intense shoulder pain, he went to the hospital for what he thought would be a quick trip. After receiving blood results with extremely elevated white blood cell counts, a bone marrow biopsy confirmed that he had PH+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). He was required to complete a very rigorous regimen of eight rounds of chemotherapy in order to survive.
Within a month of treatment, Harvey went into remission which brought much relief and joy to his family. During the fourth round of chemotherapy, he had a very unusual and rare reaction to a chemotherapy drug (cytarabine) that caused neurotoxicity (cerebellum syndrome). As a result, Harvey was left with permanent damage that included slurred speech, shaking of the hands, and the inability to walk. He was also battling a virus that almost killed him and caused permanent kidney damage.
Harvey and his family were told many times that he was not going to make it. His entire medical team was in awe and didn't have answers for his family other then to wait it out. After being in the hospital for four months, Harvey improved enough to go to a rehab with the hopes of gaining some of his strength back. Even though life is very different for Harvey and his family, they fell very blessed that he is still with them.
Thankfully, Harvey is still in remission. Currently, he is enjoying being a new grandfather to his first grandson and is trying his best to stay positive. Harvey attended his first light the night event when he was newly diagnosed.