Jeremy Smith, Esophageal Cancer and The Battle Ahead

"I think I have heartburn!!" How many times have we all said that? I guess that means no more chili for me today. But it doesn't go away and gets worse. A quick Dr's visit will fix this you say to yourself. I will take the medicine and be good to go.

But a few visits and tests later you are diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal adenocarcinoma. Cancer strikes its ugly head again. It shows no remorse, it plays no favorites and shows no mercy. It doesn't matter if you are a son, father or grandfather.

But Jeremy is all of those and plans to continue that for many years to come. His battle has just begun. To describe him as a loving, caring, kind, giving, compassionate and patriotic person doesn't do him justice. This is his story

After graduating high school Jeremy served in the United States Navy and deployed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt 8 days after 9-11 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. They spent 159 days at sea without docking at a port. A Naval record at the time.

Jeremy and his wife Kristi have lived and served in the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma community for many years. Their family continues to grow with Jeremy's daughter Taylor welcoming their granddaughter "PJ" last year. Jeremy also has an older son, Ethan. Kristi has older boys Michael and Joey. Their son Kaleb just graduated from Broken Arrow high school and is currently set to attend his freshman year of college. Kaleb was an outstanding trombone player for the Pride of Broken Arrow Marching band. Their son Zac is about to enter middle school and is looking forward to following his brother's footsteps with the marching band. Zac will play the trumpet.

Jeremy and Kristi have devoted 1000's of volunteer hours to the Fine Arts community in Broken Arrow. They served as directors of Individual Fundraising for the Broken Arrow Show Choir program from 2020-2022 and currently serve on the Broken Arrow Bands Booster Club Board of Directors as Directors of Concessions. An undertaking of countless hours and dedicated service to provide for all the patrons for Broken Arrow school events. Their dedication and service is unmatched.

Jeremy has parlayed his naval work and experience to currently being employed at Spirit Aerosystems. Spirit is in the process of combining with Boeing in a large merger. Due to this, there is a hiring freeze and many employees are on contract only. This means individuals are only paid when they work and there is not PTO, vacation or sick days.

So this is where the rubber meets road. Jeremy's journey ahead is long and difficult with many rounds of chemo, radiation and then the surgery to remove the large tumor on his esophagus and upper stomach. This will be a grueling road with many months of missed work. We are asking for our community's financial support to help with this process. We want Jeremy and Kristi to focus on his health and being there for their children/family during this difficult time. Everything is appreciated and so needed. Let us come together for such an amazing man and family and show them how a great community can come together for a wonderful cause.

Please donate today through this site or we have included their cash app and venmo details if you would rather use those programs.

Cash app- $smiths317

venmo- @JeremySmith77

God Bless