Donations surge to $1million for tragic Utah mother planning her own funeral
A young Utah mother has raised more than $1 million for her own funeral after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Erika Diarte-Carr, 30, was given three months to live on September 18 and decided to have a… GoFundMe to help ease the financial burden of funeral planning for her family.
She was in hospital for a shoulder injury in May 2022 when doctors diagnosed her with stage 4 small cell lung carcinoma – a rare form of cancer.
Over the next two years, she faced numerous health problems and eventually decided to stop treatment and focus on being with her family, including her two young children Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5.
Carr decided to start her own fundraiser with a goal of $5,000, but received an outpouring of support from friends and strangers alike that has raised more than $1 million to date.
Erika Diarte-Carr, 30, was given three months to live on September 18 and decided to stop treatment and spend time with her children Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5
In May 2022, she was diagnosed with stage 4 small cell lung carcinoma – a rare form of cancer. Since then, she has had a host of health problems
‘It happened overnight. “I never expected that,” she said ABC4. ‘I never expected there would be a big funeral service, or that many people would help me. With the way things have gone, I’m just in shock… just really grateful for everyone and everything that’s been there.”
When she was diagnosed with cancer, Carr said doctors found multiple tumors that had spread to other parts of her body, including her skeleton.
‘At that moment the damage had already been done. In that moment, mine and my children’s entire lives were changed forever, as well as those of everyone around us,” she said on her fundraising page.
On January 17, she was diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome: a hormonal disorder that occurs when the body is exposed to too much cortisol.
“It caused other problems, like my swelling and not being able to walk, and it also caused other health problems – most of my health problems, why I’m as sick as I am now,” Carr told the local news station.
The young mother has raised more than $1 million for her own funeral after being diagnosed with terminal cancer
In January, she was diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome, a hormonal disorder that occurs when the body is exposed to too much cortisol
Then on September 18, doctors told Carr she had three months to live and had to decide whether she wanted to continue treatment.
‘I was given a prognosis of three months to live if I stopped treatment. So I decided to stop the treatment because I just needed to use those last three months to spend with my kids and just make the best of it instead of getting sick from all the treatments and medications,” she said.
Now she uses the rest of her time to make memories with her children and do her best to ensure they are taken care of in the future.
‘We are planning things now, like taking a family trip and doing things that we can have or keep when I’m gone, memories. We’re planning a camping trip to our family’s country.’