Angels for Axel: Florida state troopers step in to support Kentucky family in need

ST. PETERSBURG, FL. (ABC 36 News Now) — Nearly 900 miles away from their home in Kentucky, a young family’s worst nightmare is unfolding in Florida.

Bailey and Sasha Combs, from Hueysville, were vacationing in the Tampa Bay area with their sons — two-year-old Axel and one-year-old Bennett — when their oldest son, Axel, suddenly became very sick.

“Axel had woke up in the morning and he wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink, wouldn’t play,” says Sasha. “He had bruises all over him. Not from playing. I knew there was nothing he could have done.”

Alarmed, the couple called their pediatrician, who told them to take Axel to the emergency room. That’s where they received the news no parent ever wants to hear.

“They told us he had leukemia and was in critical condition and needed to go to the ICU,” recalls Sasha, tearfully.

Doctors told the family Axel wasn’t stable enough to travel home to Kentucky and needed to begin chemotherapy treatments immediately.

“When your kids are that little, that’s not something that runs through your brain,” says Sasha. “And then to hear someone come out and say it, is very devastating.”

The Combs family had just finished the first leg of their vacation in the Tampa area and were scheduled to travel to Disney World in Orlando later that day. Sasha and Bailey made arrangements for a family member to come to Florida to bring their youngest son, Bennett, back to Kentucky while the couple settled into Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital in St. Petersburg with Axel.

“It’s very hard because we have one baby that’s 16 hours away and then one baby that’s going through a really indescribable and, with his health, it’s really tough to watch him go through this process,” says Sasha. “And it’s very tough to be away from our one-year-old at the same time, so it’s just an overall really tough situation.”

For this family of first responders, Florida Highway Patrol received word of Axel’s diagnosis and decided to lend support the best way they knew how.

Axel’s dad, Bailey, is a Kentucky State Trooper. Axel’s mom, Sasha, is a nurse.

Once word got out that there was an extended family member in need, FHP troopers showed up at the hospital to lend a helping hand.

“They’re all about a family dynamic, a family of gray,” says Bailey. “Being down here in a place you’re not familiar with, and having their support as well, their support of me, Axel and my wife, it’s a game-changer.”

Several FHP troopers visited Axel at the hospital to check in on him and bring him toys, lifting his spirits and bringing a rare smile to his face.

“Axel, he’s so used to being around police uniforms and that kind of things because of his daddy, when he seen them, it was like ‘no strangers,'” says Sasha. “They brought him gifts and he was so happy. That made me really happy just to see him light up and act a little more like himself. We’re so grateful for the support that we’ve had here and that we’ve had back home.”

The Combs family will remain in Florida for a few more weeks while Axel undergoes his first round of chemotherapy and regains some strength. Until then, they’ll continue to lean on doctors and staff at the hospital, and their family of gray.

“They’ve just been so supportive and it means more than I can explain,” says Sasha. They’re our home away from home right now.”

If you’d like to follow Axel’s journey and offer support or words of encouragement, Sasha created a Facebook page called Angels for Axel to post pictures, updates and document their journey.