Judge gives thanks to supporters during cancer fight

Carl Fox, 61, was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome last April. Doctors found that he was losing weight and energy because his bone marrow had stopped producing healthy blood cells.

This past summer, Fox made a big push for people, especially blacks, to get on the blood marrow donor registry. An inmate even offered to help the judge.

Although he went public with his fight and raised awareness across the Triangle, Fox was not able to find a perfect donor match.

"You have your dark days," he said recently.

Instead, Fox received a transplant using umbilical cord blood.

He hopes to return to work sometime after the first of the year and gives thanks to the community for rallying behind him.

"I've never felt so grateful to see a Thanksgiving in my life," he said. "I never said it, but I didn't know if I'd be alive."

Friends, family, community members and supporters sent Fox hundreds of greeting cards filled with well wishes.

"I didn't know what to say," he said. "I never expected such a response."

Julia Kemp Smith, Fox's girlfriend, said the kind words, many from strangers, offered a sense of hope.

"The support and sharing of stories and for someone to just say, 'This is normal...this too shall pass,' has been extremely important to me," Smith said.

"It really makes you appreciate, just life," Fox said.