After eight years of service to the floor covering industry, Michael was forced to stop working his normal 70-90 hours a week due to stage 4 brain cancer. Michael lives with his wife and eleven-year-old son in Glasgow, Virginia, where he has worked as shift leader and line clerk.
Michael’s hard work and dedication stemmed from wanting to give his family a better life than what he experienced growing up in a single parent household where he spent much of his time taking care of his siblings. Unfortunately, his life changed drastically due to cancer. In October 2017, he had surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor, six weeks of daily chemotherapy and radiation, followed by seven more cycles of chemotherapy. He was hospitalized in November 2018 due to severe headaches. An MRI revealed another tumor, this time inoperable. Michael is currently undergoing chemotherapy every two weeks and receiving electric fields therapy, which stops the growth of new cancer cells.
With the family just relying on his wife’s income, they are behind on the household expenses and medical bills. The financial stress was more than the family could bear. With the grant from the Floor Covering Industry Foundation, Michael was able to save their home from foreclosure, catch-up on utility bills and afford medical treatments.