More than 200 friends, family members, and classmates of the Getchell family came to attend Bebo’s “Buzz Bash.”

United South Central has one heck of a little wrestler on their team. But this year, Bebo Getchell is sitting out the season. Bebo, a first-grader at USC, is battling leukemia, a cancer of the blood.

His parents, Evan and Dara Getchell, recently learned their second oldest son out of eight children, Bebo, has leukemia. They learned this the night before Halloween, when Dara Getchell noticed her son was very lethargic and just not himself. After a trip to the emergency room, and more blood work the following day, Bebo and his parents were headed to Rochester.

Their son has already gone through his first bout of chemotherapy and is currently in Rochester’s Mayo Clinic with his second, more aggressive chemo treatment. Evan and Dara have been staying at the Ronald McDonald House with Bebo while family members and close friends have been the caregivers to the rest of the Getchell siblings.

Well, except for one Getchell sibling. Lyla Getchell is only a few weeks old, so she has been close to her mother.

Yes, while Dara and Evan have been helping their eldest son, Byron, with Type 1 diabetes, and their second eldest son, Bebo, with cancer treatments, little Lyla came to join the family on Nov. 10. Now, more than ever, the Getchells have their hands full.

The event raised close to $7,000 for the family. Pictured, the Getchell brothers get shaved at the bash.

The good news to this story is this little wrestler, like any wrestler, has a team behind him. However, Bebo’s team isn’t just his wrestling team; it is an entire community. Thousands of family members, classmates, teachers, church friends, and even perfect strangers have rallied behind Team Getchell.

At the beginning of the month of November, friends of the Getchell’s, Tanya Bird and Hayley Ferris, decided that fundraising needed to take place to help assist not only Bebo and his trips to Rochester, but the family at home as well. That’s how the “Buzz Bash” came about.

According to family friend Joanna Carroll, once Bebo found out he would lose his hair, he became very aware of it. It was then that Bebo’s brothers, Byron, Leeland and Ivan, decided they did not want Bebo to have a bald head alone. And it grew from there.

Over 50 students, parents, even teachers, decided to have their heads shaved for Bebo to make him feel better about his hair loss.

The generosity does not stop there. Not only did students pay to have their heads shaved at the Buzz Bash, but there was Hat Day, Wear Orange or Red Day, and a few other days during the school week in November that were dedicated to raising funds for the Getchell family.

Father Evan, oldest son Byron, left, Bebo, middle, and Leeland, right participate in a wrestling tournament during one of Bebo's treatments. Byron and Leeland both took home first place for their brother.

The USC community knew exactly what this little wrestler needed: a team to fight with him and not just cheer him on. That is when a few catchphrases came about. Both “#Bebostrong” and “Beastmode: Activated” started to trend to thwart the constant bombardment of sadness that comes with battling cancer. Thousands of T-shirts and hats were made with both phrases on them to show not only how many people support Bebo and his fight, but to help provide added funds to the family.

And now, Bebo is on the mat with cancer, and so far he has not given one single point to cancer, and he continues to fight, like any good wrestler should.

He and his family are used to working hard for every win on and off the mat, and this battle with leukemia is no different.

And because USC knows how important wrestling is to not only Bebo, but the entire clan of Getchells, the school community decided to hold a wrestling tournament in honor of Bebo. More than six wrestling teams came and wrestled in honor of Bebo. Not only did the tournament take place, but a silent auction during the day took place as well.

On Saturday, Dec. 17, the USC?school filled up with wrestlers from all over to join Team Getchell and face leukemia head-on.

One-hundred percent of the proceeds taken at the tournament will go to the Getchell family.

Not only that, but there was a bone marrow registry available at the event as well. Community members who are 18-45 years of age were encouraged to see if they would be a viable donor match for Bebo.

So, what is it that got an entire community to rally behind one little boy and their family? Some say it is “just what you do,” while others have been driven to help by the Getchell’s family faith.

On the “Team Getchell” Facebook page, a post from Bebo’s father, Evan, sums it up quite nicely:

“(Bebo) will be victorious and we will give credit to doctors, medicine, all of you supporting us, and courage. But most of all, credit will be due to the goodness of God,” writes Evan. “We will be stronger, we will be closer as a family and a community, but most of all I hope that God is drawing you closer to him. There truly is an army marching with us and we are embracing every single one of you as you are embracing us. This is a three-year battle. There may be some setbacks, but we will win because Christ is providing the endurance for us to fight our way through this. Losing is not an option. #Bebostrong.”