McCarthy continued to host his show for a short time, but he became more absent, until he left the air completely at the end of July. His plight became public, and soon bone marrow drives were held all over the Detroit area where thousands of people took tests in hope that their bone marrow would help McCarthy recover. In August, McCarthy flew to New York City where he was supposed to meet with doctors at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, but his illness had become so severe that he was admitted.