Determined to Make a Difference, Part 2

CHALMERS, Ind. (WLFI) - For the past six months, 15-year-old Wesley Corbin and his family have been on the road to recovery.

The Tri-County freshman was faced with a detour when he was diagnosed with leukemia on Aug. 10, 2012.

"We've all had to give up things we did in our life, from the youngest to my husband and I," Wesley's mother Heather Corbin said. "But we don't care, we just do it because you just want your kid to get better."

"Some days it's really rough for our family but we get through it," Wesley's younger sister Robyn said.

Although the Corbins have seen some dark days during this journey, they said they won't give up. They continue to share light, hope and inspiration to others who are taking the journey with them. 

"Sometimes bad things happen and out of those, blessings come," Tri-County High School principal Dr. Kathy Goad said. "This is one of those situations that certainly have changed so many people."

"It doesn't matter your age or if you're on staff or a student, he has changed us," Wesley's teacher Cathy James said. "He has inspired us to be better."

He's inspired the community to be better and has inspired them to come together.

In December, soldiers in Wesley's army at Tri-County High School flooded the hallways with a sea of orange during Wes Week. It was a week dedicated to Wesley and his fight to be cancer free.

"After Wes week, we received phone calls from people in the Indianapolis area because they had heard about it," Dr. Goad explained. "Radio stations were picking up on it throughout the state and we would receive random donations."

"Random people from our community were wanting to donate," James said. "There would be $100 checks and $100 bills and that's far-reaching."

Nearly $18,000 later, Wes Week came to an end, but the love and support from the community kept going.

Complete strangers were shaving their heads. Students at other area schools were turning class projects into fundraisers for Wesley to show their support.

The teen said he believes the abundance of love has started to heal him.

"I used to get sick two or three times a day and sometimes even more and there was really nothing that would ever hold it down," Wesley said. "But after Wes week, I've only puked once."

A new chapter in the Corbins' story of faith began this month. All three of Wesley's siblings were tested to be bone marrow donors for his transplant scheduled in March.

With only a 1.5 percent chance all three siblings would be matches, prayers were answered. Test results showed that all three of them can give him the gift of a second chance at life.

"It's one thing to say you have faith and it's another to show it," Wesley's youth pastor Paul Dyke said. "Wes has done that and his entire family has done that. I'm just in awe of how much faith they have, and the strength of Wes to make it through this, not only physically, but also spiritually is just amazing."

"We are determined that we are going to make it through this and we are going to make it through as a complete family," Heather said.

"I think the bottom line is that Wes is going to get better," James said. "This is my sense of peace that I know he's going to be better."

Wesley has still managed to get straight As this school year.

He's been working on school assignments from home when he feels healthy.

Wesley is currently at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

He'll receive intense chemotherapy for the next month until he undergoes a bone marrow transplant.