Help Marshall Defeat Cancer

Hi. I’m Michael, and like many others, my brother needs your help.

Friend of dogs, cracker of jokes, tender of bar, Marshall is 25 years old and an Atlanta, Georgia native. At the very top of his list of talents is his ability to effortlessly spread joy through his laid back nature and expressive eyebrows. He’s also a loving brother, partner, and son—and, fortunately, he’s young and strong enough to take on the cancer that’s set up shop in his body.

Marshall and his partner Angela

The diagnosis, the treatment, and their cost

In August, Marshall was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive cancer, a tumor in his chest that spread to his lungs. The cancer is progressing rapidly, and Marshall has already started treatment at Emory Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta.

Spreading love at the hospital

His doctors have a plan, but it won’t be easy. Marshall and my family are preparing for intensive treatment that’s expected to last up to a year: chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery well into 2018.

No cancer diagnosis is easy, but this one comes at a particularly bad time. At 25, Marshall is working as a bartender to pay off student loan debt. He’s currently unable to afford health insurance—and it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to get coverage any time soon.

How you can help

Money can’t cure my brother. It can’t help him sleep through hospital tests or relieve the side effects of his treatment, but it can help.

Marshall is currently enrolled in Charity Care—a way for people to receive treatment when they can’t afford it. Unfortunately, we don’t know how far these funds will go. Your donations will cover any remaining treatment costs, as well as his costs of living. He’ll use them to pay rent, buy groceries, and continue paying off his student loans.

Your help will also save him shifts at the bar, so he can put his feet up, spend time with the people (and dogs) he loves, and get better.

Donating the mane to Locks of Love

Donate once, donate twice

Hopefully, Marshall won’t have to use all of your donations. When this is over, and his glorious mane is on the mend, he’ll donate any leftover funds to the American Cancer Society. 

Any amount you can spare helps—even your social capital. Please share this campaign so others can pitch in, too. Thank you for your time and generosity!

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Note about campaign beneficiaries:

Because I (Michael Hansen) am not the beneficiary of your donations, GoFundMe has encouraged us to share detailed info about where the money is going. We are withdrawing the funds into a newly-created-for-this-purpose checking account in our mom's name (Theresa Hansen) for which Marshall has a card and checks. We do this for a few reasons:

1. Our mom is helping Marshall with a lot of the paperwork and admin-related stuff because (surprise) being on chemotherapy is very disorienting, and it is hard to keep everything straight.

2. We don't want to adversely affect Marshall's Medicare/Medicaid eligibility which he attempting to obtain.

3. Using an account ONLY for medical expenses helps us create a papertrail which will be useful for our accountant come tax season. We hope that by organizing things in this way that we'll have the information we need to write off these expenses appropriately, and the government won't hoover up 1/3 of it to spend on a new Predator drone or whatever.

Thanks for your understanding. If you have any further questions do not hesitate to reach out.