Cancer, Chemotherapy and house fire

Bob is like a lot of 66-year olds. After twenty plus years as a carpenter at the Philadelphia Ship Yard and then some years as a General Contractor, he settled into a life of semi-retirement, looking forward to spending his golden years with the friends and family that mean so much to him.

A few years back, Bob took a part-time job at The Home Depot, both to help make ends meet and to help folks that might need a little bit of expert knowledge with their home improvement projects.

 Bob is a lifetime biker. He’s been riding Harley’s since 1969 and has been an H.O.G member for as long as he can remember. When he’s not working or riding, you can often find Bob volunteering his time and energy to The Simeone Foundation Auto Museum, where for the last 8 years he has helped explain the museum’s collection and automotive technology to our next generation of youngsters and students. This is how I became to know Bob.

Bob is one of those old-fashioned kinds of guys you like to know. He is the first one there if you need anything at all but would never ask for help or let you know that he was having any problems. He worked hard his entire life and put everything extra he had into his modest home, so he could have the kind of retirement that everyone looks forward to.

Unfortunately, Bob’s life recently took a tragic turn. A few months back, Bob was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that required extensive chemotherapy and medical treatments

As it often goes these days, Bob's insurance wasn’t enough to cover his treatments while living on a fixed income. Bob had to first endure 30 treatments of radiation and then later was moved to Chemotherapy. On top of the fact that the Chemotherapy made him weaker and weaker, it also affected his ability to work. He began to miss his shifts at The Home Depot. Although they were supportive by letting Bob work when he could, these missed shifts also affected his monthly income. In order to secure the best treatment, Bob had to make some hard choices.

Bob streamlined his finances, putting every last dime into his treatment. He cut every cost he could, including the homeowner’s insurance covering the home he worked so hard his entire life to pay off.

 Sadly, Bob’s life recently took another tragic turn. Just a few days ago, on one of the coldest nights of the winter, Bob was recovering from a recent treatment. In an effort to save additional money, Bob had been heating his home with a wood burning stove. On this particular night, Bob put a few logs in the fire and went to bed. Shortly thereafter, Bob awoke to smoke filling his bedroom. Scared for his life, Bob grabbed his dog and best friend Bandit, and ran out the door with nothing but the clothes on his back.

As Bob looked back on his house, he could see that the entire side of the structure was engulfed in flames. The Christmas lights he put of the day before were burning up before his very eyes. Everything he had ever worked for in this world was in that house, and all he could do was watch from afar as five different fire departments did their best to save what they could.

This GoFundMe is being established to help get Bob back on his feet. Even though Bob lost almost everything he had, is still undergoing Chemotherapy treatments and has a tremendous amount of rebuilding to do - he still has that smile and positive attitude that he is known for. He is thankful that he was the only one in the home and that Bandit made it out with him. He dreams of working on the house with his own hands to rebuild it but just needs a little support to help make that dream a reality. It’s been a really bad couple of months for this genuine and thoughtful man. He could really use some positive support to get through this incredibly difficult time in his life. Even if it’s just a dollar, any contribution will help Bob defray the cost towards the rebuilding of his home.