CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A warning tonight about a rare form of cancer affecting the community.
Doctors don't know what's causing it but one thing is for sure: it has real and potentially devastating consequences.
A Charlotte firefighter and his wife are sharing their story to raise awareness.
“Normally I probably would have ignored it,” said Jessica Boesmiller.
Jessica is a 37-year-old mother of two, soon to be four. She’s pregnant with twins. When she began having blurry vision, she thought it was related to the pregnancy.
She went to the doctor with her husband Mark, what happened was shocking.
“Hearing the word cancer was absolutely devastating,” she said. “Did an ultrasound and told us that it was ocular melanoma. We completely had thought that we were going to get a prescription for glasses or something and be on our merry way."
This is the same rare cancer that people around Huntersville keep getting diagnosed with.
RELATED: Mysterious eye cancer cluster grows
“Though when I heard about the cluster of people in the area that had it, I realized I had heard about it before,” Jessica said. “I just ignored it then too like a lot of people probably have. And that's the reason that we want people to realize that you know, hear about it now and go get checked.”
The doctors had to remove Jessica’s eyes but her faith and joy for life remain.
“A lot of people go through tests of their faith,” she said. “And there has been – since that initial fear and diagnosis, we've had kind of a surge of trust in God that he'll walk us through this chapter.”
There are a group of doctors that are researching the cancer cluster. But at this point, they don't have any answers.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Jessica and Mark pay for their medical bills has collected more than $30,000. You visit the GoFundMe page here.