Beverly's Paul Grossman Fighting For His Life

BEVERLY, MA — One of the Thanksgiving Day football game's most valuable players of 1992 was Paul Grossman. The guy, born and raised in Beverly, was one of three of the Grossman kids who all graduated from the high school. And this running back and cornerback, the captain of the football team, this guy who worked for Ralph's Ice and was an all around star, was known to put up a fight on the football field.

In fact, Grossman dislocated his shoulder during the Thanksgiving game, but would continue to play - no complaints - ensuring a victory against Salem his senior year, remembers his fellow teammate and friend.

"That's just the kind of guy he is," said Chad Gadbois, describing Grossman, now 42, as an all-around good guy. "I know that’s overstated by a lot of people. ... You’ll have a hard time finding people who didn’t like Paul," he said.

Now Grossman is in the biggest fight of his life: He has been diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma cancer. It's something he beat six years ago. He had five years cancer free. Then it came back. Doctors were able to surgically remove cancer from his lungs, but told him there was a high probability of it coming back. Now it's in his bones, liver and lungs according to his wife and friend. To compound that, because of the cancer, he has fractured vertebrae in his back.

"There’s tragedies all over but this one hits close to home for me," said Gadbois who helped Grossman's wife set up a crowdfund page after realizing that the treatment he needed was too expensive. "He hates asking for help for anything."

Grossman's wife says his best chance of survival is to get the innovative medical treatments offered at CHIPSA Hospital, the Gerson Therapy Hospital and Advanced Immunotherapy Center For Cancer in Tijuana, Mexico, which they researched the heck out of and then had a good experience with.

"The therapy they are offering at Moffitt [hospital in Florida] here in the States do not offer much hope. Actually... they offer NO hope," she wrote. "We need treatment that doesn't offer an ultimate side effect of death," she said.

The CHIPSA treatment offers hope and a different style. He went down recently for preventative treatment in September and were impressed, not only with the way they were treated, but the results they were seeing from other patients, too.

The problem? The family's resources have dwindled and they need some $44,000 for the treatment in Mexico.

"His life is worth it! I can't bear the thought of losing him because we don't have enough funds," wrote his wife on the YouCaring crowd-fundraising website. As of Monday, the family had raised $5,885. By Thursday, some 69 people had contributed more than $13,000.

It was actually Amy Garniss' idea to start a crowdfund to raise the money for her brother's childhood friend.

"Beverly is such a great community and the more we share this I know we can raise the money to get him the help he needs. CHIPSA Hospital is an amazing place ... it truly is full of hope and miracles," she said.

Paul is a soulmate, a son, uncle, brother, and loved by many, according to friends and family and has a lot to live for. And as that Thanksgiving day in 1992 showed, he's not one to give up easily.

"With four daughters and a wife he’ll fight it," said Gadbois.

How to help: YouCaring crowdfund money all goes to the family.

The original Patch post from Garniss: Help Paul Grossman Get to CHIPSA Hospital

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Photos courtesy Gadbois.