Hundreds donate to give cancer survivor new teeth

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KABC) -- A young cancer survivor in Central California has a reason to smile today -- an online campaign to help him get new teeth has surpassed its goal.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Hunter lives near Bakersfield. He was just 4 when he was first diagnosed with Rhabodomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer. After undergoing aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, he beat the disease.

Then, nine years later, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

After years of more chemotherapy and radiation, doctors said he was cancer-free in 2003. But he continues to live with the treatment's side effects.

"I had my teeth removed because they're all loose and, actually, when they fall out new teeth won't grow in," Alex said.

"It's obviously an expense we did not expect. You know, I always tell him, 'Just one day at a time,' and that's how we've always taken it," mom Liz Hunter said.

While Alex's insurance paid for the removal of his teeth, it won't cover dentures.

"[The insurance] said it wasn't a medical issue and of course it's from a medical issue," grandmother Roberta Hunter told KERO-TV in Bakersfield.

So the family turned to the Internet to raise money, creating a GoFundMe campaign to get Alex a new set of teeth.

In just two days, more than 330 people contributed. As of 1 p.m. Thursday, the family has raised more than $19,000, surpassing the campaign's goal of $11,000.