A family of eight from Virginia is stuck in Colorado after their son received a shocking cancer diagnosis.
Nick and Melissa Thomas were on their way back home from an Alaska cruise with their six children when their oldest son, Marshall, started feeling ill.
The 16-year-old had been diagnosed with mononucleosis before the trip and was reportedly feeling better after taking antibiotics.
But when the Thomases landed in Denver on Saturday to make their connecting flight, he was so weak he could barely walk, according to Denver 7.
Marshall was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with leukemia, a blood cancer.
Marshall Thomas, 16 (pictured), of Suffolk, Virginia was diagnosed with mononucleosis earlier this month, but was cleared to go on a family trip to Alaska
During the course of the trip, Marshall gradually became weaker. When his family flew to Denver, Colorado, on Saturday to make their connecting flight, he could barely walk. Pictured: The Thomas family with Marshall (back row, far left)
'It's like walking in a fog. Just one foot in front of the other,' Marshall's mother, Melissa, told Denver 7. 'It just feels unreal.'
A week before the family was set to go on vacation, Marshall was diagnosed with mononucleosis, also known as mono.
Doctors told his parents that he would be fine to go on the trip as long as he took antibiotics.
Marshall's parents say he started feeling better but, towards the end of the trip, he began feeling weak again.
'He's a pretty athletic kid. Strong as an ox. Doesn't get sick really often at all,' his father, Nick, told the station.
The Thomases flew to Denver on Saturday to catch their connecting flight back home to Suffolk, Virginia. Marshall could barely walk by the time they landed.
'The flight attendant suggested we have a paramedic look at him once we landed,' Melissa said.
Paramedics examined Marshall and recommended that he be taken to Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora.
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