From 1 single cell, an 'oh-my-god disease' and a fund-raiser

BOARDMAN

The Massacci family all agree it was by bad luck alone that Vincent Massacci, 9, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma — a rare childhood cancer that stems from muscle cells.

Becky Massacci, his stepmother, said Vincent was playing flag football one Sunday in September, but within three days, it was nonstop hospital trips for him.

“He was with his mom, [Kathryn Massacci], when she noticed a piece of gummy candy stuck in his throat,” Becky said. “She looked down his throat and it seemed real swollen, so he was rushed to the ER.”

Becky said doctors thought it was tonsillitis, but after seeing a pediatrician and a throat doctor, they knew it was something worse. Doctors at the Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron reported by the end of September that Vincent had rhabdomyosarcoma.

“It’s a big, long, scary, oh-my-god word,” Becky said. “But what it really is, is a rare muscular cancer in children.”

“We wondered if we gave him the wrong things to eat or if it was genetic,” said Michael Massacci, his father. “And all doctors could say was it was just bad luck — a single cell that didn’t do what it was supposed to do.”

Almost immediately after hearing news of Vincent’s illness, Missy Tomko-Bishop, a friend and co-worker of Becky’s, decided to plan a spaghetti dinner for Vincent and his family in Struthers Friday.

Read more about the event and the boy in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.