Beloved Western PA High School Coach Battling Leukemia

IMPERIAL, PA — Dan Marshall, former West Allegheny High School boys basketball coach and a longtime assistant coach for the football team, has been battling Large Granular Lymphocytic leukemia. Marshall also has been diagnosed with various blood-related ailments in recent years, according to his brother, Jim Marshall.

"Over the years Dan has been to countless specialists and has received a gauntlet of diagnoses ranging from Eosinophilic fasciitis to a rare diagnosis called CIDP," Jim Marshall said. "With each diagnosis has come new treatments ranging from medications to even monthly transfusions with little to no success."

Dan Marshall's treatment regimen led to him being referred from Pittsburgh to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio to consult with its team of blood-related oncology specialists. According to his brother, they have recommended he receive a bone marrow transplant before the disease develops into a more aggressive form of leukemia that could leave him untreatable.

Dan Marshall's insurance doesn't permit him to be treated locally at UPMC, so doctors have suggested the procedure be performed at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital.

Doctors have told him he will have to spend a minimum of 100 days in Cleveland, Jim Marshall said. He has to remain isolated and find temporary housing near the hospital for several months after he is discharged to continue potential treatments and be close to the medical center should complications develop.

Jim Marshall has started a GoFundMe page to help pay for four or more months of temporary housing with furniture; potential lost wages for Dan Marshall and his wife, Jess; medical co-pays and deductibles; gas costs as Jess Marshall travels back and forth between Pittsburgh and Cleveland; and parking expenses.

Jim Marshall wrote on the page: "I am asking you to join me in overwhelming Dan and his family with support and encouragement knowing that they are not in this fight alone."