JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville native needs help finding a doctor to help her husband who is battling cancer.
The young couple lives in Guatemala. It's been three weeks since Sebastian Toledo was diagnosed with leukemia. While he's reserving his strength to fight cancer, Ashlynn Toledo has to stay strong for her family.
The Toledo family shared with First Coast News a video of Sebastian holding his three-month-old son before starting treatment.
To Ashlynn Toledo, after learning her husband has cancer, she said "our whole world stopped."
"We have faith that God is going to bring us through this," Ashlynn Toledo said. "We're just taking it one day at a time, one moment at a time because that's all we can do."
She's from Jacksonville and an American citizen, but she and her husband call Guatemala City home. She said the two first met at church. At last check, Sebastian Toledo is staying at a private hospital. The family said the cancer found its way to his cerebral spinal fluid.
To Ashlynn Toledo, this hits close to home. She recalls how members of her maiden family died from leukemia.
"There's a fear that strikes you when you hear the word cancer," she added.
The 25-year-old young mother believes her husband can get better treatment in the U.S. The challenge is that Sebastian Toledo doesn't have medical insurance in America.
Ashlynn Toledo said they would need to prove they can pay. That is if, she said, a doctor would sponsor him. Plus, they're desperately trying to get him an emergency visa.
First Coast News reached out to Senator Marco Rubio's office. A spokesperson said they are in contact with the family to determine how they can help. Ashylnn Toledo's mother told First Coast News they've not heard from Rubio's office, yet.
"He [Sebastian] was just looking at me, and he's like 'in sickness and in health right?'," she chuckled. "If definitely hits different when you're in those moments of sickness."
The Toledo family is holding on to hope that one day Sebastian will get to hold his son again.
As of Wednesday, the family said Sebastian Toledo completed his first round of chemo, and he has seven more to go.
If you know a doctor who can help sponsor Sebastian for treatment, e-mail us at News@FirstCoastNews.com.