Support Todd’s hope to help his kids

My brother-in-law, Todd, was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer last May. This came as a shock, as Todd was only 57 years old at the time. By the time it was discovered, the cancer had already metastasized to his liver. Since then, he has been in a long fight against the disease, but in the past few months, chemotherapy has started to become less effective.

On June 10th, the mass on Todd’s liver caused enough stress on his blood vessels to result in life-threatening internal bleeding. The surgery was high-risk and required Todd to be placed on life support. After six days on life support, Todd began to recover and was doing well. His family was hopeful that he would soon be able to return home.

Unfortunately, on June 20th, Todd began to aspirate and his oxygen levels plummeted. His family was told it was unlikely that he would survive the next 24 hours.

Against all odds, Todd has pulled through. Since then, his wife and four children have been staying at the hospital, wanting to spend as much remaining time with him as possible. Everyone who has known Todd can attest that he’s kept both his smile and his sense of humour throughout the entire journey!

Since Todd was first admitted to the hospital, his four young adult children have put their lives on hold—both socially and financially—to support him. These summer months are especially important for them, as they are either full-time students or rely on this peak employment season to earn the majority of their yearly income.

His eldest daughter recently graduated post-secondary and is now making student loan payments while trying to maintain her apartment in British Columbia, where she had been working in Forestry. His eldest son just completed his first year at the University of Victoria and had been working full-time to fund his second year. His other son was in the process of reentering the workforce but has postponed those plans to be with the family. His youngest daughter had been working as a server to cover her living expenses.

Unfortunately, most of Todd’s children are not eligible for Employment Insurance during this difficult time. At Todd’s request, I’ve created this page to help ease their financial burden. His wife and children have been his greatest support throughout his entire journey, and Todd hopes to use his story to give back to them in any way he can. Any contributions would be deeply appreciated.

In lieu of sending flowers, Todd and his family kindly asks that you consider donating to this GoFundMe instead.