families served

smith family

Ty is a firefighter in Independence, Missouri. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and was unable to work. His wife stays at home with their two young children. His oldest child, Brookelyn (8), has severe cystic fibrosis and is unable to take care of herself. Justin and Austin visited Ty at his house and spent time with his family learning more about how we could help. Ty was so weak from treatment that he was unable to lift his daughter to bring her to her bedroom so she was sleeping in the living room. It’s one thing to be diagnosed with cancer, but a whole different level of suffering when you are unable to take care of your children because of the disease. We partnered with two other foundations, Answering the Call and Fight Dirty, to purchase a handicap accessible van and install an elevator in the house so their daughter could be moved around the house. Our hearts broke for this family. While we provided financial support, Andrea met with Kayla to talk about things only spouses of cancer patients could understand. Ty was very private about his cancer battle so to honor his request we have not shared much information publicly surrounding his family.

Ty completed his last round of chemo in April and the cancer is gone! I’ve included a photo of his family for you.