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SPRINGVILLE — Within just a few weeks, Springville resident Jessica Cox was faced with two devastating trials: the death of her older brother John Krutsch at the age of 45 and a cancer diagnosis.
Krutsch was 13 years her senior and shared her birthday. As she was growing up, he would take her to lunch and a movie as he received his paychecks, and he would buy her a new dress. On May 6 — the morning of his youngest daughter’s wedding — he passed away from a heart attack, most likely related to diabetes, according to Cox.
"We knew John would want us to go on with the wedding," Cox said. "So we all rallied and went on with the sealing, and I did her wedding cake still and my sister was in town and we just all rallied together to decorate and just take care of her as John would want us to."
That night, Cox began experiencing flu like symptoms and she couldn’t stay warm. The next morning, she woke up with more than 20 black bruises on the back of her calves. Her symptoms worsened in the following weeks, and she was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia May 27.
“Acute promyelocytic leukemia is a form of acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood-forming tissue (bone marrow),” according to U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Cox had to spend nearly 40 days in the hospital undergoing treatment, which she said was difficult as she was grieving her brother and dealing with her leukemia.
“No kids were allowed on the floor, no fresh flowers were allowed on the floor just because there’s so much risk of getting sick, so it was definitely a hard time,” she said. “My baby’s birthday is July 3, so I kept telling everybody, I will be home for his birthday. … And I did, I was able to be home for his birthday.” Cox is now in molecular remission. She has one more round of Intravenous chemotherapy and she’ll go through oral chemotherapy for two years.
A GoFundMe account* was set up for Cox. As of Friday afternoon, it had raised more than $800.
*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
