Brotherly love helps Polk man battle cancer

LAKE WALES (FOX 13) - No one saw it coming. Brandon Kelley was in his early 30s and married to his high school sweetheart, Natasha. They had a 3-year-old son. And Brandon’s business was doing very well.

But one day last January, Brandon’s life hit an unexpected brick wall. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. The doctors said he was stage four.

Worries about his son Bentley immediately rushed through his mind.

“If I was going to be father to him, to bring him up right, the hunting and fishing outdoors,” he told FOX 13. “That’s the scary part of it, not being there for him.”

Brandon went through eight grueling rounds of chemotherapy, and radiation. His cancer was going into remission. 

Then, just as quickly as it struck, the cancer came back. He needed a bone marrow transplant – a perfect match. Doctors didn’t have to look far to find one.

Brandon’s younger brother, Justin, who has cerebral palsy and uses a walker or wheelchair to get around, was the perfect candidate.

Justin says he is a little anxious about the procedure, but he is ready to go.

“That’s my brother,” he said. “And my nephew has to have a dad, so it is what it is.”

The whole family feels like the black cloud that has been lifted is beginning to clear.

“Actually, we have been talking more about our future,” his wife Natasha told us. “Because now we feel like we have one.”

The surgery is scheduled for next month.

Meanwhile, there will be a fundraiser for the Kelley family at the Bolden Barn, in Bartow on Saturday, May 12. For more information, visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1962574854057818/