LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- He's known as one of the 7 West Warriors, a wing of the hospital you don't choose to visit. You're there because you have no other option. For 16-year-old Clay Collins, it's cancer.
"Of course, you're just shocked," his mother, Carrie Collins said.
One afternoon in March, after a week of battling extreme fatigue, Clay went to the doctor. His mother was at work when she got a call saying his blood work came back abnormal.
"They just said, they had a room waiting for him downtown at Norton Children's Hospital and we need to get him there today. So, we didn't know what it was but we knew it wasn't good," Collins said.
He was quickly diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Clay began chemo the very next day and has been here ever since. He's currently undergoing his second round of chemo.
"I'm assuming most people are like me. Unless a child or someone really close to you has Leukemia, you don't know much about it and you probably don't know what a bone marrow transplant is or how important they are," Collins said.
A transplant means everything to Clay's family. Unfortunately, like 70 percent of people battling blood cancers, none of his relatives are a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant.
That's where the Highview community is stepping in.
"His mom is a teacher here at Whitefield for a long time, his brother is about to graduate. Clay himself has been a long-time student," Derek Hopperton, the student life director at Whitefield Academy said.
Hopperton says students immediately took action, creating fundraising opportunities for Clay's family, selling "Camo for Clay" wrist bracelets and donating money from 'dress down day,' where students give two dollars on days they like to wear plain clothes instead of their uniform.
"We have students come in with a $100 bill because they know where the money is going," Hopperton said.
Perhaps the greatest gift Whitefield Academy could give is a chance at a cure.
"Chances are not great to be a match for bone marrow and that's why they have a registry," Hopperton said. "The nurses at Norton directed us to Be the Match."
The school is hosting a Bone Marrow Registry Drive on Monday, May 21, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., for anyone between the ages of 18 and 44. It's free. It's a swab of the cheek and it's a chance to save the life of someone like Clay. The address is Whitefield Academy, located at 7711 Fegenbush Lane.
"We have people all over the country who have dedicated time to doing this," Hopperton said.
►Contact reporter Brooke Hasch at bhasch@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Hasch) and Facebook.