‘It’s made it difficult’: How a 21-year-old Central Florida man’s cancer battle is complicated by the pandemic

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The first few months of Zane Tyson’s cancer battle were already difficult before the coronavirus pandemic swept in and made his treatments and care even more complicated.

Zane was diagnosed with brain cancer at the end of 2019. He and his mother Sherri Tyson traveled to St. Jude's in Memphis for treatment, with Zane going through emergency sessions of chemotherapy.

Sherri said Zane was making progress, before another setback came in the middle of the pandemic.

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“On May 12th Zane suffered a cardiac arrest in our house and I performed CPR for 12 minutes until the medics got there,” Sherri said.

Sherri said COVID-19 protocols have made the situation even more challenging.

"It’s made it difficult for me to here with him. I'm only allowed to be in this room,” she said in a video call from Memphis. “They have a wellness center for families but it's closed. But they are allowing me only to go down and use the shower there."

Moving forward, Sherri said the goal is to get Zane off the ventilator and into a long-term care facility back in Central Florida.

But working around the pandemic and the protocols put in place can be a challenge.

“Once he leaves this hospital, they are going to follow the strict CDC guidelines of no visitation with Zane,” Sherri said. “And in the condition he is in, I just don’t see how that’s possible for either one of us to thrive and do better.”

Click here for updates on Zane’s cancer battle and to donate to his family’s GoFundMe.

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