Honouring a selfless soul: Support for Tom

For over the past six years Tom has been fighting lung cancer.

We fought the first bout with high hopes of it being cured. He went through years of chemo treatment and 32 radiation therapies. Then it was with high hopes we were told that immunotherapy was the golden ticket. After another 6 months of treatment he was still not cured.

The government would not cover another attempt at the immunotherapy so he agreed to go through another round of chemotherapy treatment over a span of another 6 months. Side effects were terrible this time around and made him unsure if it was worth it at times but decided to do all he could.

After enduring all of this the cancer has persisted to the point that he has been given one year at most to live.

Tom always wore his heart on his sleeve. Always lending a hand and helping others whenever the opportunity arose. He contributed to The Food Bank as well as other charities that needed help. At Christmas you could always count on Tom to contribute to the Salvation Army and other toy drives etc.

He feels so lucky to have such caring people in his life and has such a dedicated wife. They are truly Kindred Spirits. He can’t even begin to imagine what this would be like to go through alone. His wife and family has been the anchor to feeling so fortunate.

The burden that this cost will place on her is his main concern. He is afraid of her being able to afford to just make ends meet.

He had intended to work well into his 60’s since he enjoyed working and being a part of the community.

Unfortunately sickness and health problems intervened which literally destroyed all retirement plans and became very costly.

He has never been the type to ask others for help. He would always try make it on his own two feet and felt it much more rewarding to help others.

It is embarrassing to ask for others to help you but we told him that it is important to allow others to feel good by having the opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life.

The funeral costs are well above what had been expected for such a basic funeral which amounted to $22,000.00

He appreciates your prayers and charity with all his heart as we all do. You will forever be in our thoughts and in our memories.

No amount is too small, any contribution at all means the world to us.