From my sister, Sandra Sunio:

Dear friends and family,

My family and I are humbly asking for financial help and support for my dad. Last month, my dad was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and recently underwent surgery to remove a portion of his bowel where the mass was and create a temporary ileostomy. He will likely undergo further treatment to ensure complete remission.

As some may know, my dad lives in the Philippines, and my mom, brother, and I live in the states - a sacrifice our parents made to ensure a comfortable life for my brother and me. We have gone home to the Philippines every summer to spend time together as a family ever since we were babies. My dad is a kind, loving father and husband who wants nothing more than to spend more time with his children and have our mom be able to retire in the Philippines with him. To support my dad and be with him throughout treatment, we will have to travel back and forth and take time off work intermittently while still supporting my brother through college and flight training. My brother’s dream to become an airline pilot stems from all of our flights to the Philippines we took to see my dad since we were young — my brother always said as a kid that he wanted to become a pilot so he could fly my dad to the US himself. My dad wishes to see my brother fulfill this dream. Our time spent with him has always been so limited due to the distance, so we are praying for the best outcome and treatment plan to have as much time as possible with him.

As a result of my dad’s surgery, ongoing medical care, and the need for further cancer treatment which might be a little further from home, my mom and I are both taking time off of work to care for and support him in the Philippines while my brother stays behind to focus on school and flight training. Along with the mental, emotional, and physical toll that this has brought our family, the financial burden of travel and medical costs have severely impacted us. We are kindly asking for any amount of help alongside prayers and well wishes for our dad.

We thank all of our friends and family who have already shown us an overwhelming amount of love and support for my dad and our family so far.