National group helps Thomasville man battling cancer

May 7—THOMASVILLE — At just 46 years old, Thomasville truck driver William Charles Lounsbury Jr. is facing the fight of his life.

In September 2021, he learned he had a rare form of cancer, dedifferentiated liposarcoma, which has a 30% mortality rate. Lounsbury underwent 30 rounds of radiation treatment, and in February a football-sized tumor was removed from his left thigh.

Following that surgery he went into septic shock, a life-threatening condition that happens when your blood pressure drops to a dangerously low level after an infection, and needed multiple operations on his leg. As soon as he's recovered fully from the surgery, he will need additional radiation treatment.

Nodules have also emerged on Lounsbury's lungs.

Lounsbury and his fiancée, Holly Gable, a lifelong Thomasville resident, already lost their home because of medical debt, and Lousbury is behind on payments on his truck. They are considering selling it just to make ends meet. For now, they are living with Gable's grandparents.

"We're so grateful for the help, but we also really look forward to being able to live independently again," Gable said. "We were planning to get married before this diagnosis. Since then, we have lost everything, so we have had to put that on the back burner."

Lousbury applied for disability in September but has yet to hear back from the state, Gable said.

"We have gone through our entire savings and lost our home in the process,"

Gable said. "The only thing we have left is our car."

To help lift this burden, friends and family members have started a medical fundraising campaign with the national nonprofit Help Hope Live, which specializes in fundraising campaigns for people who need a transplant or are affected by a catastrophic injury or illness, online at

helphopelive.org/campaign/20176.

Donations in Lounsbury's honor are tax-deductible and will be used by the nonprofit only to cover verified cancer-related expenses. His medical condition has been verified by the nonprofit.

Because Help Hope Live manages all the funds raised, donations won't jeopardize Lounsbury's eligibility for disability benefits.

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