Far from any battlefield at a Bay Area hospital, a US Army soldier and 2012 Eureka High School graduate has spent the last year in a battle for his life.

In October of 2014, at the base where he was stationed in North Carolina, thought-to-be healthy then 20-year-old Ryley McClurg collapsed. According to an account provided by family, it was later discovered the incident was a result of his body’s inability to produce the blood needed to provide oxygen to his brain. He barely survived the incident. Tests later confirmed he had acute myelogenous leukemia and he was transported for treatment to Stanford Medical Center where he could be closer to his family.  

(AUDIO) KHUM interview w/ Paige McClurg

(Ryley’s sister Paige speaks with KHUM’s Bayley Brown)

After an exhausting year full of various victories and setbacks — read a thorough telling here — McClurg’s family are asking their community for support. But they’ll feed you! Next Thursday, Nov. 19 at Eureka’s Elks Lodge, they’re holding a spaghetti dinner in an attempt to ease the strain of pesky expenses not covered by the military — they’ve been traveling a lot, as you’d expect, to spend as much time with Ryley as possible and his mother has devoted herself to caring for her son 24/7. 

Tickets for the event are $15. The family is asking that you RSVP by this Sunday by calling Scott McClurg at (707) 499-5809 or by messaging his sister Paige on Facebook here.

You can also donate at a YouCaring page set up for Ryley here.