Man Known For His Cancer Fight Dies in Double Fatality | News

LATHROP, Mo. — A young Lathrop man who fought cancer when he was a child and was once not expected to live past 18, died over the weekend in a car crash.

The Missouri Highway Patrol says Mathew Tucker, 21, crossed the center line on MO 166 outside Polo, Mo., on Friday morning at about 5 a.m.  Troopers say Tucker’s F-150 truck hit a car in the oncoming lane; the impact forced that car to spin around and come to rest, while Tucker’s car continued on to hit another car, a 1989 Chevy driven by Keith Staus, 28.  Staus’ car overturned and caught fire. He died at the scene, as did Tucker.

FOX 4 profiled Mathew Tucker in a 2010 health report. In 1992 he was a toddler, battling leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant to survive. His family had no insurance and needed $300,000 up front for the transplant. Presidential candidate Bill Clinton came to Kansas City and ran for Mat in a Kansas City fundraiser. Then, years later, FOX 4′s Meryl Lin McKean profiled Mat when he graduated from high school.

Meryl Lin’s story from May 2010 is below.