On February 27, 2026, after a routine MRI for back pain, my family’s life turned upside down. My 38-year-old father was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive cancer called Leiomyosarcoma. Cancer has haunted our family for generations—my dad lost his little brother, his father, his uncle, his cousin, and his grandparents to this disease. Getting cancer was his biggest fear in life—a family curse he hoped to avoid.

My parents are high-school sweethearts and have been together since 2003. My dad is a substation lineman and my mom is a pediatric nurse. They always go above and beyond for everyone, giving the shirt off their backs to help others. Every year, my mom organizes a Giving Tree for kids whose parents struggle to buy gifts, donating them to Barnegat PD and local schools. Her life motto is “kindness breaks barriers”—she truly wants to heal the world one kind gesture at a time.

Now, my dad is too sick and weak to continue working safely. He faces a difficult surgery to remove a football-sized tumor from his abdomen in the next two weeks. Everything has fallen on my mom’s shoulders overnight, and she’s handling it all with incredible strength—caring for my dad, taking care of us, and working long shifts as a nurse. She barely sleeps or eats, just keeps us all afloat while she struggles herself. It breaks my heart that I can’t be there to help because I’m currently in Police Academy.

We’re asking for help to cover travel expenses to Memorial Sloan Kettering in NY, food, medicine, and medical bills. If anyone deserves support, it’s my parents. Thank you for your kindness, prayers, and any help you can give. #BURKESTRONG