After a Belle man's eye infection turned out to be cancer, the community has come together to raise money for his treatment.
Josh Exline, 38, noticed irritation in his eye on Feb. 18 but didn't think anything of it. The next day, his symptoms got worse and Exline thought he had pink eye so he went to the doctor. After numerous doctors visits, he was referred to the Cleveland Clinic, where doctors diagnosed him with cancer - Exline had a large melanoma inside his right eye, and his eye would have to be removed along with the tumor.
For Exline, this diagnosis couldn't come at a worse time. Exline lost his job in October and along with it, his health insurance.
In addition to the surgery to have his eye with the tumor removed, Exline will have to travel to Cleveland for evaluations frequently, another costly expense.
Andrea Sullivan said her husband, Shawn, Exline's fraternity brother from their days in Tau Kappa Epsilon at Concord University, had the idea to raise money after he heard the news. Sullivan, a music teacher in Raleigh County, said she had the day off school due to snow and used the time to set up the GoFundMe page.
They had set a goal of $20,000 thinking it was far too high, but kept it as a way to "reach for the stars," she said.
In a little more than 25 hours, they'd hit that goal.
"We only thought we were going to get a couple thousand dollars, by day two we had already hit our $20,000 mark and the donations are still coming," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said Exline has many large circles of friends, from fraternity brothers to sports fans to fellow concert goers.
"I think [there are] just so many different groups of people that this brought together, and it just shows you you don't know how many people you know or how many lives you've touched until something like this happens," Andrea said. "If anybody else were in this situation, he would absolutely be there for them, too. He's just a great guy."
Exline was shocked when he saw the amount of money raised.
"If I had not been sitting down when I saw it, I would have fallen down," Exline said. "It blew me away and rendered me completely speechless."
Over the last six months, Exline had noticed his vision in his right eye was kind of weird, and kept getting worse. He was going to mention it to his optometrist at his bi-yearly checkup, but he lost his job prior to his appointment. Then, Exline thought, he would just wait it out until he got a new job and he could get his insurance figured out.
"I guess that's a blessing in disguise. If it hadn't been for the excruciating pain I would have done exactly that while my tumor in my eye continued to grow," Exline said.
The tumor has been in Exline's eye all of his life, he said, it was only a matter of time before it started to spread.
"The doctor told me there's nothing I could have done," Exline said. "That's been calming in a way."
He also finds peace in knowing this type of cancer is not hereditary, and his son, is not at risk of inheriting the disease.
Exline has received tremendous support from his friends, family and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity brothers. He said many of his friends had taken to posting pirate memes on his Facebook page, which makes him laugh.
"Those are the kind of things I encourage because it makes me smile. It makes me kind of forget what's going on and it helps me stay calm," Exline said. "It has been hard, you wake up one morning and think you got pink eye and, oh crap, I've got melanoma in my eye."
There will also be a benefit concert for Exline on June 10 at the Boulevard Tavern, said bar manager Dave Thomas.
Thomas said when he heard the news, he reached out to Exline to offer up the venue. He wasn't sure what bands would be playing or the details of the event yet, but suggested people support Exline's cause.
"Josh Exline has been a big part of the Charleston music scene for years. Not as a musician, but as an audience member," Thomas said. "I think it's time that some of these folks [musicians and bands] support his cause."
To make a donation to Exline's GoFundMe, visit https://www.gofundme.com/55rcqj5g.
Reach Laura Haight at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @laurahaight_ on Twitter.