On October 31, 2025, Ian and Sarah were planning for their first holiday party in their new house. Ian had experienced pain in his armpit over the preceding days and the doctor thought he had a cyst in his armpit; his blood work was normal and he otherwise felt healthy. Ian's armpit pain became intolerable; Sarah recognized something was wrong and (all but physically) forced Ian to go to the ER hoping that the cyst could be drained. If you know Ian, he is a "grin and bear it" type of guy so getting him to the ER was a daunting task. In the ER, the doctors found a large blood clot in his armpit and additional testing uncovered a grapefruit-sized aggressive malignant mass in his upper chest which already consumed two of his ribs. Ian's recent diagnosis has been a shock to our entire family, and most importantly, to Ian and Sarah.

We are still in the early stages of figuring out Ian's treatment course and what the next several months of treatment look like. What we know for sure that is that Ian is gearing up for a fight and he will overcome this.

Ian is the guy who gives the shirt off his back, picks up the tab, cancels his plans to cover a shift for a co-worker who has a family event, and the list goes on. Ian has and will always be the guy who shows up for people -- friends, family, and strangers. To highlight Ian's character, last summer, Ian was driving home after double shift. He saw an old man (90s) trying to move a huge tree that had fallen on the man's home during a storm. Ian pulled over and began helping. The man initially declined because he didn't have any money to pay Ian. Ian laughed and said "I going to help you; I have to cut the tree up so I'll be right back with my chainsaw". Ian went home, got the chainsaw, went back to the man's house, and spent hours chopping up the tree and cleaning up the entire yard. After Ian finished, the man explained (with tears in his eyes) that he had no one to help him and had no idea what he would have done without Ian's help. This is just one example of who Ian is at his core.

Since his childhood football days, our family has (lovingly) referred to Ian as "THE ANIMAL" - he is a force of nature, a fierce competitor, and has the natural drive of a gladiator, to put it mildly. For now, Ian's focus needs to be on his health. His journey is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. Our family has received so many calls and texts asking, "what can I do" or "how can I help?". I urge everyone to consider making a financial contribution to relieve Ian's financial pressures and mounting medical bills. At 29-years old, this isn't something that Ian fathomed, let alone planned for, and he will be on leave from work for an extended period of time. Every contribution will help Ian stay focused on kicking cancer's a**.

Thank you.