Thief steals chemotherapy medication from porch of man with brain cancer

An unidentified thief stole chemotherapy medication from the porch of an Oklahoma man suffering from brain cancer on Saturday, KFOR reports.

Oklahoma City resident James Mills told the station that he was supposed to receive the life-saving prescription over the weekend so he could start his round of chemotherapy on Monday. Unfortunately, his package never showed up.

"We received a notification that my chemotherapy medication had been delivered from UPS," Mills explained. "I checked the door and didn't see the package. I double-checked, and they said it had been delivered. I check the security cameras, and I saw the UPS driver deliver it, then about eight minutes later, another individual comes up, grabs it and takes off."

Surveillance footage shows a man in a hoodie keep his head down as he snatches the package from Mills' porch. The suspect then runs away without looking back.

Mills' wife Heather said the burglary has stressed them even more.

"It was frustrating, I was pretty angry," Heather told KFOR. "It's not easy, I mean, we had trouble getting that medicine to begin with. Having to call the pharmacy, go through the doctor to get approvals and things like that. That in itself is frustrating."

James says the medication is essential for a time-sensitive clinical trial that he is supposed to undergo.

"It's pretty expensive medication as well," he added. "We'll have to find out what the procedure is to get replacement."

Nearly 700,000 Americans are living with either cancerous or noncancerous brain tumors, according to the National Brain Tumor Society. About 69 percent of tumors are benign, while the remaining 30 percent of tumors are malignant. The average survival rate for those with the latter form of tumor is just 35 percent, the organization notes.