A year and a half ago, Sue Rothman was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer and it is critical to her survival that she is helped to get a cutting edge treatment.

Sue Rothman is a community champion and co-founder of Cleveland School Remembers, a chapter of Brady United Against Gun Violence. This group was started by Sue and five other teachers who survived the very first school shooting in our country in 1989, at Cleveland Elementary School in Sue’s hometown of Stockton, California. Five children were killed—first, second, and third graders—and 30 were injured, including one teacher. These school shootings have now become all too common, but Sue has never given up the fight against gun violence.

Sue’s friends gave her a nickname a few years ago: The Chihuahua. If you’ve ever been around a Chihuahua, you know that if they want something they WILL get it. They will not leave you alone until they get what they want. Sue is like that in her community activism. If you’re a city official and we feel like we need to meet with you, we put Sue on it. Sue WILL get the meeting. No question about it. She works tirelessly researching data about gun deaths and gun violence. She started our county’s suicide prevention efforts. She is very politically active and has walked the streets canvassing for many political candidates. Sue is 81 years of age, but she still has more energy and more productivity than most of us.

A year and a half ago, Sue was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer that has a very unpronounceable name: Esthesioneuroblastoma (Olfactory neuroblastoma). Sue is such a rare individual, of course she would have a very rare form of cancer! She has had multiple rounds of chemo and radiation, but it’s still spreading. The Chihuahua has seen doctors in Stockton, Sacramento, and Boston, and they all agree there is one treatment remaining that may slow its spread and could add years to her life (years that we need from her!). But because her cancer is so rare, the remaining treatment is not approved for this particular cancer by the FDA. And because of that, Medicare will not cover the expense. The pharmaceutical company that makes it, Novartis, will not provide it on a humanitarian basis. Even with huge discounts from the UC Davis Medical Center, which would administer this treatment, it still runs $51,318 per treatment—and it requires four treatments.

Sue’s family is stepping up to the plate and doing everything they can to cover the expense of this for her. We are hoping through this GoFundMe campaign to cover at least one treatment, because we would like to do as much as we can to spread that burden and spare her family having to bear the whole $205,272. So our goal is to raise at least $51,318. Anything you can donate would be appreciated, and we assure you: it’s going to someone whose life makes a difference daily—even now, in spite of this cancer, Sue still remains active and vital to the causes she supports. As an octogenarian, it might be easy to say that she has already lived a good, long life. But Sue’s mother died just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday, so Sue anticipates having another 18 years to be active in this world and to make more of a difference. And remember: Sue is a Chihuahua! She will not let go of this life without a fight.

We think it’s worth any donation we can make to try to give her more time to continue to serve humanity in the wonderful way she does. Thank you for any contribution you can make!

Check out “Cleveland School Remembers” on Facebook to read about Sue’s vital contributions to that work.

Text by Becky Cameron