Help Matthew and his family battle cancer!

Hello, My name is John Cook and I am looking to raise 5000$+ for one of my best friends.. Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Matthew is a 25 year old young man with 2 non biological children (ages 10 and 6), 1 biological child (newborn) and beautiful fiancé Kerrie just for a baseline!

I met Matt in 2018 on the Canadian National Railroad when I moved my life over to Edmonton, Alberta from Chilliwack, British Columbia.. soon after moving realizing he too moved his life from the opposite coast (Newfoundland) to Edmonton to start a new chapter in his life. Immediately it gave us something to talk about.. Even if it was only small talk at first.. the occasional "Hey man" in the locker room and a "cya later". These small talks eventually turned into going out and doing things we both enjoy such as fishing, camping, watching hockey and messing around with pointless projects out of boredom.

Years have gone by and we have slowly watched and helped each other develop into the men we are today. Always being there to lend helping hands or to answer any questions about life. We both share similar stories with not having very much family around to help with day to day things and its turned into a mutual respect where we can both always count on each other.

This last spring of 2021 me and Matt were working together and he came up beside me and said " man, this might sound weird but I feel like someone kicked me in the nuts!" we both laughed as we always do and kind of went about our day.. around a week later the same conversation kept coming up but this time it was shifting into I think there is a lump down there!... Day after day I tried to speak with him on a positive level to not initiate fear! saying things like "oh I'm sure it'll be fine man you're a strong fella!" Sadly my instincts were incorrect. Me and Matt drove together into the city of Edmonton to see a specialist which in turn informed him that his testicle needed to be removed ASAP because there was a mass on his left testicle the medical term for this operation being a "Radical Inguinal Orchiectomy". Bare in mind this news comes to fruition when his fiancé' Kerrie is 7 months pregnant!!!. As we left the specialists office Matt was in the best spirits I've ever seen someone who dealt with life changing news, We laughed together and went home saying things like "man we've got too go fish as much as we can before I go for surgery!." Matt refused to believe life was gonna let him down.. all the way up to the day I drove him for his surgery he remained one of the strongest people I know! maybe the amount of laughing we did together was a way to release stress but at the very least he would never let people around him see he was down!.

After the surgery took place Matt came walking out of that hospital chin up with a big grin, smiling and laughing. I told him "lets hope this is over! you made it buddy!" as he struggled like hell to get up in my truck and I took him home. THE NEXT MORNING I wake up to a text saying "Kerrie is going into labor right now!". I thought to myself WHAT!? were in the middle of a global pandemic and this man was on an operating table 15 hours prior and now his beautiful daughter Mckenna is being born 1 month and 3 days early,.. Bitter sweet really.. I managed to convince Matt to hobble himself down to the hospital where his fiancé Kerrie was giving birth.. with a cut in his abdomen from surgery still wearing his surgery wristband aswell as being in so much pain he could hardly lay down let alone drive his truck 60 kilometers! but he made it! she was healthily born almost 24 hours exactly after his surgery took place 5LBs 6oz and they all had to stay together in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the Royal Alexandria Hospital in Edmonton for 2 weeks together.

On top of all this.. he was in the process of trying to move his family to a new home in Spruce Grove, Alberta. He only had a matter of weeks to get his items packed up and moved to put himself in a better location for his family. and he did it! crippled, new born, and all!

This brings us to the current events taking place.. following the surgery on July 8th Matt was notified the mass tested positive in a lab for Cancer, this sets his doctors into motion to do further testing and see if the cancer has moved anywhere else within his body.. he was sent for a series of tests and waited for the results.. the results came back August 3rd showing there were about 10 masses in his lungs measuring up to 5mm.. one of his lymph nodes near his kidney called the left intrarenal periaortic was mildly enlarged as well as several other lymph nodes showed enlarged.. the follow up to this outcome is now Matt is being sent for a PET scan (Positron emission tomography) and the doctor has informed him that he will be either going through radiation treatment or Chemo therapy depending on the outcome of the scan, but he was sadly informed it appears the cancer has at least reached his lymph nodes, and possibly the lungs aswell ( the test will further answer if the lungs are harmed)

In conclusion I'm trying to help Matthew and his family, after all they have gone through together in the last few months to now be pressed financially because his short term disability benefits are coming to an end and he is being forced to switch to Employment insurance.. which is a hardly enough money for them to survive on in this day and age.. him and his fiancé are at home with three children, Kerrie having just  given birth a month ago needs to be home with the baby, Matthew dealing with cancer, post surgery pains, a new born daughter and having to figure out all of life's finances and take care of his family! I can only imagine the unbelievable amount of stress they are going through.. and as we all know stress does no good for a person battling cancer or any sickness for that matter.. so I ask folks that you please help this family, in their time of need. Help touch their lives as they have touched mine and everybody they come in contact with. 

I thank you all very much for taking the time to read and hear this story,
I will continue to update as the story continues to write itself.

In Solidarity

John Cook