He's Helped People For Years As A Toms River EMT; Now He Needs Help

TOMS RIVER, NJ — For years, William Miller has lived with kidney stones.

They are a common problem: 1 in 10 people develop them, according to the Cleveland Clinic, from minerals and acids that get stored in the kidneys as they filter waste from the blood.

They can be microscopic and barely noticeable, or, as they are in Miller's case, large and extremely painful.

"He's gotten some big stones," his wife, Kelsey, said, "15 millimeters. Unpassable." That one required a stent to be put in for a few weeks to pass it, she said.

As a result, William Miller, who's 40, has gotten regular CT scans of his kidneys to check for stones so they could be addressed before they got too big to pass. It was a regular scan in October that turned up something more serious than a stone: a mass on William's left kidney, Kelsey said.

"Since the mass was not present six months ago they sent him for an MRI, which shows renal cell carcinoma stage 3 in his left kidney," she said.

That diagnosis has turned life upside down for the Millers, who are both career emergency medical technicians. William Miller, who has 17 years as an EMT, has worked full-time for Toms River Township EMS for 10 years and part-time for the Lanoka Harbor EMS for four years. Kelsey Miller works for the Monmouth County Sheriff's Department

. The couple also has three daughters: Evelynn, 5; Eleanor, 6, and Aliannah, who's 12.

"We are taking things day by day, leaning on our faith, our love, and strength we've built together. But the medical bills, time off work travel for treatment are already beginning to add up in ways that are overwhelming," Kelsey Miller wrote on a GoFundMe campaign she set up seeking help with the medical expenses.

Kelsey Miller said her husband will be going in for a nephrectomy to remove the left kidney on Dec. 23. What treatment he will need after the surgery will depend on what the doctors find when they perform it, including whether any lymph nodes are affected.

"My husband is an amazing father and EMT," she said, and "has spent his life serving our community. He's the one who shows up on your hardest days, who brings calm in chaos, and who gives everything he has to help strangers in their most vulnerable moments."

"He is always ready to help and truly enjoys his career," she said.

Those wishing to donate to the GoFundMe campaign can do so online.