Ali Spyker, a brilliant disability historian, parent of two kids, wrangler of cats, amazing wife and generally wonderful person, is currently fighting stage 4 breast cancer.

We want to raise money to help her and her family into a safe and comfortable home, and give Ali's wife the resources to take time off work to care for her as her health declines.

The Short Version:

My name is Sophie Hambleton, and I've had the pleasure of knowing Ali for 12 years. She's a 43 year old disability historian and advocate, who is currently working on finishing her PhD in at the University of Waterloo on Identity Making and Mental Disability in Late Medieval England. She is also the parent of two children (aged 12 and 15), three cats, and a wife to Branwen.

On December 22nd, 2024 Ali was diagnosed with breast cancer. She nicknamed the cancer Bob, and saw him more as a nuisance than anything else. She responded very well to her first six months of chemotherapy. She had surgery in August 2025, followed by radiotherapy a few months later.

In Feb 2026 she developed chronic lymphedema due to the surgery, but was given the all-clear from cancer in August 2026. Everyone believed Bob had packed his bags and finally left Ali alone. However, the lymphedema had given Bob some cover, and to the surprise of Ali’s medical team, it seems he has respawned, and with reinforcements this time.

On Sept 28th, 2026 Ali was told that she has Stage 4 breast cancer. Although it was caught early, it had already metastasized and is spreading rapidly - this means it is terminal. The cancer is now in Ali’s bones and there is no cure, only treatment which will extend her life as much as possible.

Like Ali herself, her cancer is ‘weird’ (her words) and at the moment there is no clear prognosis for how much time she has left. It could be months or it could be a few years. What is clear, is that Ali and her family are in need of our help and support.

The Main Goal:

Ali, Branwen and their children Naomi and Rivka have lived in social housing in a very ‘lively’ part of Hamilton for about ten years. Their neighbourhood has many interesting features including drug deals, regular brawls, domestic disputes, and occasional gun violence.

Their house is what most realtors would optimistically call ‘cosy’, and has little space or privacy. They have no built in air conditioning and the house is damp, which means that one thing it’s good at is growing new and interesting species of mold. As much as Ali and Branwen are fans of plant life, this isn’t conducive to the health of a person living with cancer.

Our goal is to help Ali to buy a safe and comfortable home for her own care needs, and also for the long-term stability of her family.

Ali’s parents (Jayne and Bob) have given them some financial assistance towards buying a small home elsewhere in Hamilton, taken from what would be Ali’s inheritance. This will give them space, privacy for Ali during her treatment, better proximity to Branwen’s work, and allow them to be closer to the hospital.

What The Money will be Used For:

Ali and Branwen need our help to cover moving expenses and fees. They will also need extra financial assistance to help Ali as her health declines. The money will be used for these things:

Ali doesn’t have long to plan a move, so we are hoping to get their family into a new home as soon as we can, so they are in the best possible situation to get through this difficult time.

The Longer Version: (a bit more about Ali):

Ali is the second of five children born to Jayne and Bob. Her siblings are Stephanie, Karen, Tracy and Bob Jr. She grew up in the Hamilton/Halton area, where her Dad’s love of fishing (and arranging his fishing lures) formed the backbone of much of her childhood.

Having always been a kind and empathetic person, Ali began working in disability care and support when she was 19. It was a formative experience and shaped the trajectory of her entire adult life. Doing disability care led to curiosity about disability in the past. As she says, she ‘wondered where my friends were in history’, and wanted to find out.

Ali has always been a huge geek with a love of learning. She first gained a BA in Religious Studies, an MA in Medieval Studies, and went on to study for a PhD at the University of York in England, which she later had to leave unfinished for health reasons. It was during this time that I met Ali at a toddler group, where we bonded over having kids, weird hair, and a mutual love of dusty old books.

One of Ali’s other great loves is her wife Branwen, who she met online in 2003, back when it was still weird to meet people off the internet. They were married in 2009, and then Branwen joined Ali in England, where she was able to fully indulge her love of really old buildings and tea.

Ali and Branwen came back to Canada in 2015, with their two kids (Naomi then aged 3, and baby Rivka). Ali was determined to finish her PhD, and re-enrolled at the University of Waterloo in 2020 until cancer Bob interrupted her plans. Despite her health challenges, Ali is determined that she is going nowhere until she finally finishes her research and degree.

In addition to info-dumping about Medieval England, Ali is very creative and always has some kind of craft project taking up space in the living room next to Branwen’s spinning wheel. Ali loves stories in many forms, including RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. A lifelong love of dragons has become a fresh delight, with dragons being a personal mascot for Ali as she has fought cancer, and she takes emotional support dragons to treatments.

Ali loves to cook and is inspired by many different cuisines, often making fusion dishes which range from ‘delicious’ to ‘interesting’ to ‘maybe we won’t make that again’.

Much like hobbits, Ali and Branwen love growing things, and one of the ways they have tried to make the best of their current home is by planting vegetables. They also like to fill their house with books and cats, including the infamous ‘trojan cat’ who convinced Ali and Branwen to take her inside one chilly spring day. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but when they went to take her back outside for the night, it turned out there were now three cats instead of one. Being soft-hearted folks, they kept the cat and both of her kittens.

When Ali was diagnosed with cancer in 2024, she decided to have fun with her hair and handle its loss on her own terms. She delighted the chemo staff by coming in sporting a rainbow mohawk. Throughout her treatment she has remained her kind, laid back and funny self. Her fun-loving nature has not been stifled by the cancer, and nor has her love of harmless pranks; when she finished radiotherapy, she told her doctors she was having a weird side effect and revealed a tentacle that she had painted on her chest.

Having a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer (triple negative) has been hard on Ali’s body, and much of her remaining time is going to be taken up with medical appointments and treatment. Ali has several complications from the cancer, and has recently been fitted with a drain (extra plumbing) to help with build up of fluid around her lungs.

Cancer is a heavy burden, but as Gandalf once said ‘All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’

With our support, we can help make the time that Ali has left as good as possible. She’s planning to make herself a ridiculously niche Halloween costume (Large Francis Building: pillbug and lady adventurer from a T. Kingfisher novel), and wants to host people for Christmas in her new home. She hopes that maybe they can all go and visit Branwen’s family over in British Columbia.

Our goal is to give Ali and her family a nice space, in which they can enjoy their remaining time together, grow plants and fill their house with books, cats, and craft projects.

Ali has given much of her time, emotional energy, and resources to others over the years, and I know that those of us who love her will want to help her through this.