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Community Supports Clare County Sheriff Diagnosed With Cancer

A loving community is rallying around Clare County Sheriff John Wilson after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Last summer, Sheriff Wilson started getting pains in his stomach.

In December doctors found a mass attached to his pancreas.

He feared it was pancreatic cancer, but found out Tuesday that it’s a curable form of cancer, Lymphoma.

9&10’s Taylor Jones talked to Sheriff Wilson about the diagnosis.

“He said you have a mass and it looks like it’s on your pancreas and I’m just like really, i do? It hits you, I’m like oh my gosh! Then you try to call and tell your family this is what they found, you don’t know what it is. It’s a lot of weight on you,” says Wilson.

A scary few months for Sheriff Wilson, fearing the worst. But Tuesday he was diagnosed with a form of Lymphoma.

“When they did the biopsy, they had come back and said there are no pancreatic cancer cells in this, and it was a big relief. It’s very overwhelming, the amount of people praying,” says Wilson.

Sheriff Wilson loves his job, hunting and being with his two sons.

Dealing with cancer, it’s been hard to do those things, but the community has been there the whole way.

“It hits you close to home. I’ll tell you, it’s a bad deal. Really, I mean it really strikes your heart hard. He’s a good guy, good religious guy and a good family man. It hits you home, it’s hard for me not to cry right now,” says Joe Cox, friend.  

Many have been making Wilson meals and donating money for travel to the hospital down state.

“He’s been a friend to a lot of people and has helped a lot of families throughout his life too. So they are stepping up and helping him,” says Cox.

Now the goal is to get the Sheriff healthy.

“He’s on the road to recovery, were going to get him through this and get him back to work and things back to normal,” says Dwayne Miedzianowski, Clare County Undersheriff.

Today is John’s birthday, one he will never forget.

“I’ve got to say, it’s probably one of the best birthdays. I have a lot left of my life that I want to do. I really want to stay around here and see my kids grow up, do my job and still be a sheriff for a lot longer than this. I love my job and I love the community,” says Wilson.

Sheriff Wilson will be starting chemo treatments Friday and is expected to be done in June and back on the Job.

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