After two long years of battling Triple Negative Breast Cancer, my aunt Haewon Kim passed away in the early morning of Friday, November 11th. She was 60 years old. We, Anne and Karen, are raising money to help my aunt’s family with funeral expenses. We are short on being able to pay for everything, and any helping hand would be greatly appreciated.

Our youngest aunt, who was Haewon’s little sister, also passed away from breast cancer last July in 2021 at the age of 50. Within just a year and a half, we have now lost both of our aunts to cancer. My grandma has lost two of her daughters, my mom has lost her sisters, and all of our cousins have lost their mothers. Our family is devastated.

Our oldest aunt Haewon Kim was truly one of the most selfless, kind-hearted, and patient people I have ever known. She was a living example of the Giving Tree, always putting others before herself. Before she immigrated from Korea to the U.S. in 2002 for a better life, she was a painter who loved flowers and nature, and an art teacher who taught kindergarten and elementary school kids to draw.

After moving here, she ended up working long hours at a small luggage store in South Los Angeles in order to make ends meet. She was rarely able to get her much needed rest, because her husband was not in good health and was unable to secure steady employment. He had been fighting diabetes himself since before coming to the U.S. and his health was in slow decline. She lived a very stressful life for more than 15 years, going month to month, paying for rent and food for her family with earnings from the store alone.

Haewon was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer in December 2020. As a result, she was forced to quit the store, and the family lost the one steady source of income. Although she tried very hard to eat healthy and exercise to beat the cancer, her beloved little sister’s death in July 2021 and her husband’s emergency dialysis in August 2021 put her in extreme emotional distress, deteriorating her condition further.

Her two sons did their best to take her to all of her medical appointments and hospital visits, surgeries and then many chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy sessions. She endured every single treatment, but her cancer persisted. She gradually lost the ability to walk for periods of time, and had trouble sleeping, among many other horrible changes. She was admitted to the emergency room twice in her last week, and she spent her last few days in hospice at home, surrounded by all of her loved ones. She fought until her final moments, wanting to live, but ultimately, she peacefully passed away.

She is survived by her two sons and husband, who are broken by the loss of the pillar of their family. Any contribution would mean the world to us. We would be forever grateful for any support given.