On August 7th, my father, Allan, was very ill and was admitted to the hospital. What we initially thought might be a temporary illness quickly turned into something none of us were prepared to hear. After countless tests, biopsies, surgery, and a week-long hospital stay, a tumor was found within my father’s colon, and he was subsequently diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.

Allan is a father of seven, a grandfather, a devoted husband, and, without a doubt, one of the funniest people you will ever meet. He has always been the person who puts everyone else before himself. As a hard-working mechanic for nearly 35 years, he has worked tirelessly to provide for his family. At only 50 years old, he has spent most of his life working — Monday through Saturday at his full-time job as a mechanic, and even Sundays taking on extra jobs whenever he could to make sure his family had what they needed.

My father has never really known how to slow down. He is the hardest-working man I have ever known, and unfortunately, his cancer diagnosis is the first time in decades that he has truly been forced to stop.

Cancer is not an easy battle, and it is not a short one. In the coming weeks, Allan will begin chemotherapy. Our hope is that the treatment will shrink the tumor enough for him to undergo surgery to remove it. We are trying to remain hopeful and take things one day at a time, but there are still so many unknowns ahead of us.

Alongside the emotional toll of watching someone you love fight cancer comes an overwhelming financial burden. Many of the surgeries, medications, treatments, and rounds of chemotherapy that Allan desperately needs will not be covered by insurance, leaving our family facing significant out-of-pocket expenses.

With Allan being the primary provider for our family and now unable to work, the responsibility of keeping everything afloat has fallen entirely on my mother. She is not only trying to manage the costs of his medical care, medications, and hospital stays, but also the expenses of their home and their children. At the same time, she has had to take time away from work to bring him to appointments, care for him, and simply be there for her husband through one of the most frightening moments of their lives.

It has been incredibly difficult to watch my parents carry all of this at once.

My youngest sister, Omary, is still fully dependent on my parents. The goal of this fundraiser is not only to help with Allan’s medical expenses, but to give my family some room to breathe. Donations will help with the costs of chemotherapy, medications, surgeries, hospital expenses, childcare, meals, transportation, and other everyday necessities that continue even when a family is facing a crisis.

More than anything, we want my parents to be able to focus on what matters most right now: getting Allan healthy and making sure he has the strength and support he needs to fight this.

My father has spent his entire life taking care of everyone else. Now, our family is asking for help taking care of him.

Any contribution, no matter how big or small, would mean more to our family than we could ever put into words. If you are unable to donate, sharing this fundraiser with others or simply keeping my father and our family in your thoughts and prayers would mean just as much.

Thank you for taking the time to read Allan’s story, for caring about our family, and for helping us through a time we never imagined we would have to face.