COSTA MESA : Fund-Raiser for Boy Who Won’t Quit

Watching their 4-year-old son running around the yard playing with his older brother and the family dog, Jane and Reggie Jackson can hardly believe that only a year ago, little Matt was too ill to move.

In the spirit of his favorite song, “2 Legit 2 Quit” by Hammer, Matt Jackson has been surviving a rare form of cancer and intensive chemotherapy that have left him with virtually no resistance to other illnesses.

But his battle with cancer has run up staggering medical expenses, and to help, a Bowl-A-Thon will be held today from 3 to 6 p.m. at Kona Lanes in Costa Mesa.

Local restaurants and businesses have donated food, entertainment and door prizes. There will be special lanes for children.

Although the family must wait another 16 months before doctors know whether Matt’s cancer is gone for good, by all appearances, Matt is just an “everyday normal kid,” according to his father.

Matt’s hair, which he lost during chemotherapy, has grown back into long curls, and three weeks ago Matt was able to return to preschool, something that his father talks about with excitement.

“When that day hit, it was great,” Reggie Jackson said. “I keep thinking back. Last year at this time, what was he doing? He was in intensive care. It was that touch-and-go period. But he fought through it.”

The family’s ordeal started in January, 1992, when Matt, then 3, started complaining of a recurring toothache.

To their shock, a small lump about the size of a pea under one of Matt’s teeth turned out to be what doctors would later diagnose as Burkitt’s lymphoma.

Since then, Matt’s struggle, and that of his parents to pay his medical bills, have inspired donations and support from friends and strangers.

Reggie Jackson was laid off three years ago as an aerospace engineer, and has since started working as a self-employed consultant.

Jane Jackson is a nursing director at a Mission Viejo outpatient surgery center, but her insurance doesn’t fully cover her son’s treatment.

In just 10 months, Matt’s medical bills have reached $850,000. And the bills keep coming and Matt continues to require monthly check-ups.

James Porter, a county social services worker who read a newspaper story about Matt last summer, is among the many people who have helped the Jacksons.

It was Porter who organized the Bowl-A-Thon.

“I have healthy kids of my own,” Porter said. “I can’t even imagine if my wife and I had to go through something like this.

“It’s not only a financial catastrophe, it’s an emotional catastrophe.”

All funds raised in today’s event will go toward Matt’s medical bills, Porter said.

Said Jane Jackson, “No one can understand, really understand how much the support has meant to us.”

For additional information on the fund-raiser, contact Porter at (714) 490-5386.