Help for Samantha and Chris
Donation protected
There is nothing better than a true friend. A true friend is someone who you always know where you stand with.You could go days without seeing them, or you could go years… but with a true friend, time always stands still. They understand you, they know all the insides and outsides of you, all your quirks, and they still stick around!
Samantha Keeler is my true friend. I met Sammy in the Draper Middle School cafeteria in 8th grade. She had a really awesome dry sense of humor and for whatever reason, that was what I needed. I was new to this school and was dying to find a friend. We have remained friends ever since that day.
In 2008, Sam unexpectedly lost her mother to a heart attack and her world was flipped upside down. Shortly after, she moved to South Carolina to be with her family and start a new life.
Her plan to start from scratch worked wonderfully when she met a great guy named Chris Rottman and began an exciting new relationship with him.
In late 2015, Sam and Chris took their relationship to the next level when he proposed to her. They began their wedding planning with no idea of what was to come.
I remember travelling with my family down the east coast in late February 2016 and being able to finally meet Chris and catch up with Sammy for only an hour… however, I was so happy for my friend and her new fiance. I remember at the time that Chris was not feeling well, but Sam advised me that he was just struggling with a normal bug.
Not even a month later, Sam reached out to me with devastating news. She said that Chris was very ill and that they weren’t positive but they thought he may have cancer.
Several weeks were spent doing a lot of scans and x rays and poking and prodding and not really having answers. It was discovered that Chris had a mass about the size of a vortex football. It caused so much fluid around his lung that it collapsed and they had to drain him that first night in the Emergency Room. He said he's never known pain like that in his life. After several procedures it was determined that he had Large B Cell Type Lymphoma and the type of Chemo that would help his recovery.
He was out of work for a total of two months.
During this time, Samantha was taking care of Chris as much as possible while balancing her full time job at a daycare with very minimal pay. She was commuting constantly and just struggling to balance their bills, rent, and normal daily expenses along with caring for her partner and home.
However, one can only run on fumes for so long.
Within a few weeks, Sam began to feel sick. She was experiencing intense nausea and vomiting every day. She feared she was pregnant but continued to come back negative on pregnancy tests. Blood work was done to rule out pregnancy, but that left more questions. She began to miss time at work which impacted their income even more. Sam was eventually diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and had a dangerously high A1C level. Her doctor determined that she needed surgery to remove her gall bladder and she missed even more work during her recovery.
The beginning of the year started out happily while Sam and Chris began planning for their wedding, with the intentions of saving some money to begin their lives together. However, within just a few weeks of the new year they were met with incredible stress when Chris fell ill with his cancer diagnosis. He continues to receive chemo treatments and his prognosis is good… however, far too many of us are familiar with the uphill battle that comes with being ill, paying bills for normal life and doctor visits.
The purpose for this campaign is to help this wonderful couple out. Samantha has been a dear friend to me for many many years. She has bent over backwards to help me in the past and I want to provide the platform for others to help these two people. More than anything they just want to be able to overcome these illnesses and get their lives back on track, and get married! With your generous donation you are helping them get caught up on their rent and utility payments and helping pay off some of the credit card debt that was acquired to cover the cost of so many doctor visits and copays when they needed money up front.
Imagine what your donation means to these two. I’ve known Sam for most of my adult life and I know she is not the kind of person to ask for help… but when is enough enough?
Everything is appreciated and everything helps.
Please give what you can friends.
Samantha Keeler is my true friend. I met Sammy in the Draper Middle School cafeteria in 8th grade. She had a really awesome dry sense of humor and for whatever reason, that was what I needed. I was new to this school and was dying to find a friend. We have remained friends ever since that day.
In 2008, Sam unexpectedly lost her mother to a heart attack and her world was flipped upside down. Shortly after, she moved to South Carolina to be with her family and start a new life.
Her plan to start from scratch worked wonderfully when she met a great guy named Chris Rottman and began an exciting new relationship with him.
In late 2015, Sam and Chris took their relationship to the next level when he proposed to her. They began their wedding planning with no idea of what was to come.
I remember travelling with my family down the east coast in late February 2016 and being able to finally meet Chris and catch up with Sammy for only an hour… however, I was so happy for my friend and her new fiance. I remember at the time that Chris was not feeling well, but Sam advised me that he was just struggling with a normal bug.
Not even a month later, Sam reached out to me with devastating news. She said that Chris was very ill and that they weren’t positive but they thought he may have cancer.
Several weeks were spent doing a lot of scans and x rays and poking and prodding and not really having answers. It was discovered that Chris had a mass about the size of a vortex football. It caused so much fluid around his lung that it collapsed and they had to drain him that first night in the Emergency Room. He said he's never known pain like that in his life. After several procedures it was determined that he had Large B Cell Type Lymphoma and the type of Chemo that would help his recovery.
He was out of work for a total of two months.
During this time, Samantha was taking care of Chris as much as possible while balancing her full time job at a daycare with very minimal pay. She was commuting constantly and just struggling to balance their bills, rent, and normal daily expenses along with caring for her partner and home.
However, one can only run on fumes for so long.
Within a few weeks, Sam began to feel sick. She was experiencing intense nausea and vomiting every day. She feared she was pregnant but continued to come back negative on pregnancy tests. Blood work was done to rule out pregnancy, but that left more questions. She began to miss time at work which impacted their income even more. Sam was eventually diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and had a dangerously high A1C level. Her doctor determined that she needed surgery to remove her gall bladder and she missed even more work during her recovery.
The beginning of the year started out happily while Sam and Chris began planning for their wedding, with the intentions of saving some money to begin their lives together. However, within just a few weeks of the new year they were met with incredible stress when Chris fell ill with his cancer diagnosis. He continues to receive chemo treatments and his prognosis is good… however, far too many of us are familiar with the uphill battle that comes with being ill, paying bills for normal life and doctor visits.
The purpose for this campaign is to help this wonderful couple out. Samantha has been a dear friend to me for many many years. She has bent over backwards to help me in the past and I want to provide the platform for others to help these two people. More than anything they just want to be able to overcome these illnesses and get their lives back on track, and get married! With your generous donation you are helping them get caught up on their rent and utility payments and helping pay off some of the credit card debt that was acquired to cover the cost of so many doctor visits and copays when they needed money up front.
Imagine what your donation means to these two. I’ve known Sam for most of my adult life and I know she is not the kind of person to ask for help… but when is enough enough?
Everything is appreciated and everything helps.
Please give what you can friends.
Organizer and beneficiary
Sarah van Rijsewijk
Organizer
Corinth, NY
Samantha Keeler
Beneficiary
