LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) -- WHAS11 first introduced you to Clay Collins in May as he was battling a Leukemia diagnosis. He was a long-time Whitefield Academy student in Louisville who was diagnosed with cancer in the spring.
It's with a heavy heart we tell you, Clay passed away Saturday.
He'd received his perfect match for a bone marrow donation and was hoping to come home for Christmas, after months at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
His mother, Carrie, said soon after he went into remission, he was diagnosed with a complication called Graft versus Host Disease (GVHD), a rare condition where the donor cells essentially attack the body. The damage was irreversible.
Our thoughts are with the Collins family and the Highview community. Clay's family hopes his story will generate more awareness about blood disorders and the need for life-saving donors.
