The Duke community prides itself on coming together in moments of distress and need, and Monday night brought another display of said community.
Junior running back Shaquille Powell’s younger brother Malachi Briggs was diagnosed with cancer Sept. 10. Two days later, Briggs underwent surgery but the tumor was deemed too large to remove and will require at least two months of treatment before doctors reevaluate it in November to decide whether or not it is safe to operate.
Tuesday night, the family created a fund on the popular website GoFundMe in hopes of offsetting the high costs of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In just six hours, the fund has collected $2,075 from 33 donors, a total that has been increasing by the minute. The post has a set goal of $20,000, an estimate of how much the treatments will run the family in out-of-pocket payments.
Powell's teammates took to social media to help spread the word Monday night.
Briggs is without insurance due to what the GoFundMe page calls a payment error and will be without insurance through the entirety of October. The family is now in the process of appealing the mistake.
If you would like to donate, here is the link to the page:
http://www.gofundme.com/f73zjc
Check back tomorrow for updates.
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