NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — I fueled up and headed to Hernando, Mississippi. I drove the 231 miles because I wanted to talk to Coltin Bell and his 16-year-old son Reace about A Goofy Movie. Of course.
"How many times did we watch that?" Coltin asked Reace.
"I'm not sure," Reace answered.
"It's a lot," Coltin laughed. "It's the most important thing in our life!"
Coltin's always tried to get Reace into something he loved as a kid. A Goofy Movie is it.
"I feel like I can relate to Goofy a little bit," Coltin nodded.
After all, A Goofy Movie is a father-son story about a road trip.
Coltin and Reace have taken the 231-mile drive from Hernando to Nashville more times than they can count.
The reason for the trips has been hard. Coltin's going to Vanderbilt Health for treatments.
"I have acute myeloid leukemia," Coltin said. "It takes a lot of life."
It was decided Coltin would need a stem cell transplant. He needed a donor.
"We're praying people, and I was praying for my donor but also praying for my family cause this is a heavy weight on them," he explained.
The day came a donor was found.
"Physically, though, are you nervous?" Coltin asked Reace.
"I mean. I'm not nervous, really, physically," Reace answered.
"Why?"
"Cause I'm getting to save you."
Reace would be his dad's donor.
"Nobody ever said being a super hero was easy, Reace," Coltin told his son. "Well, I love you, and I appreciate you."
Reace went through injections to boost his stem cell count.
After so many trips to Nashville, would this work?
"To be honest, I was very scared," Reace explained. "I was very scared, not for my safety, for my dad's safety. I was very scared for his life. I was very scared this wouldn't work."
The transplant took place in June of last year.
On a recent morning at the Hernando Farmer's Market, the Bell family was working out of their Sunny Days Coffee Co. business. They bring the trailer to different events. They started it just months after a successful stem cell transplant.
"This was a dream we had while we were in the hospital," Coltin explained. "Through my healing, we've all kinda worked on it together."
While Coltin and Reace were not the same blood type before, they are now.
"O positive, baby!" Coltin shouted.
Coltin hopes people understand those long trips to Nashville continue. He has to watch carefully how he's doing.
"People see somebody go through cancer and look really bad like I did, and they see you pop back a little bit, and they think, 'Oh, well, you're good,'" Coltin said. "Man, the truth is you're not. It's a new normal."
As for Reace, he said he bounced back quickly after donating.
"I feel like I would have made that decision in any universe, to be honest with you," Reace nodded. "It was a great decision."
So, back to A Goofy Movie. It was Coltin and Reace's favorite before all of this, but there's something worth noting. The film's a father-son story with a road trip and, at one point, the son saves the father's life.
"Isn't that crazy?" Coltin said, nudging Reace. "I love it, yeah. Goofy's just a dad trying to spend time with his son while he can, and that is something I relate to. I feel a sense of urgency to be with my family. I do feel so blessed just to be alive."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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