A Christian family in Riverdale, whose lives have touched many people in the Southern Crescent area, is facing

major problems, but friends and family members are rallying to help David and Deborah Staats and their daughters.

David, 46, is facing a bone marrow transplant to try to overcome second-stage leukemia. He had no symptoms and did

not know how serious his illness was until last May. Now, the family will have to separate, while David and Deborah go

to Seattle for the transplant operation, while their three daughters stay in this area with family members. The process will

take four months or longer.

David is a computer operator for the Georgia Dept. of Administrative Services in Atlanta. Deborah has worked in

accounting for a Fayetteville pediatrician Dr. John Potts for the last several years. Their home is in Riverdale, but they attend

Bible Baptist Church in Hampton. They have friends and connections all over south metro and beyond, Deborah says,

"because every time the girls go to a church camp or event, they always bring people home with them."

The problem facing the Staats is the one that faces many transplant patients -- money. Deborah says their insurance

with the state, high-option Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan, will pay up to $500,000 of the actual medical expenses, which

are already estimated at $575,000 and will go higher. But they aren't sure what might be paid for the marrow donor, David's

43-year-old brother Daniel, who lives in Chatsworth. In addition, Deborah will have to have living expenses in Seattle.

The daughters need living expenses here.

Betty Goza, who works with Deborah at the doctor's office, has arranged for a fund for the Staats family through

their congregation, Bible Baptist, and First Citizens Bank. Some people in Fayetteville, some fellow church members, and

Harvest Baptist of Newnan have already helped.

"We have to sell our house," Deborah said, "and it needed a new roof. The other church came and put a roof on it for

us. We just have to start all over again when we get back."

The whole scope of the family's lives is changing. Not only will they have to endure David's life-threatening illness,

but the parents will also be worried about their younger daughter, Tiffany, 14, who has a chronic abdominal illness as

yet undiagnosed.

"They already knew us in the Fayette Community Hospital emergency room, the night we took David in and found

out about his condition," Deborah says.

Daughter Trina, 20, is taking some time off from her studies at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., to help the

family through the crisis. Kristi, 18, is a senior at Bible Baptist Christian School. The two taught at a church camp in Louisiana

this summer; as a result, the family already has faced one round of tearful good-byes.

"It was hard to let them go," David said, "because I thought we would be leaving for Seattle before they got back. I

thought I might never see them again."

But the transplant date was postponed, so the couple will be leaving on Aug. 25. All the daughters are with them now

and probably will rarely let their dad and mom out of sight until they have to.

"We are a very active Christian family," Deborah says. "It's the only things that can get us through this. Sometimes I

think I am still in shock, because we never had a clue that anything like this was happening. I just ask for God's help, and rely

on that, and the help of our friends, who have all been so good."

Asked if he would "go to Disneyworld" after he gets back from Seattle, David Replied cautiously, "Well, I guess, since

it's a favorite place for Deborah and the girls. But I don't know when they will let me out in big crowds again."

David also cannot be around animals for at least a year, so the family is also saying good-bye to its three dogs and a

cat. But David says "if I have any hobbies to speak of, it's just being with the family, watching the girls play basketball

and volleyball and cheer ... that's what I like best."

Donations may be made to Deborah Staats or Betty Goza, care of Susan Stallings, First Citizens Bank, P.O. Box

219, Fayetteville GA 30214; or to Bible Baptist Church, 2780 Mt. Carmel Road, Hampton, GA 30228.

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