A Cochrane family struck with tragic news has raised nearly $10,000 in under one week thanks to the community. Chris Lindsey was suffering from severe pains in his side when he went to see a health expert. A CT scan revealed he had an enlarged spleen with a mass growing on it. After a four-and-a-half-hour surgery and a six-week recovery, the family discovered this was only the start. Shortly after in early June, Lindsey was diagnosed with Stage 3 of an aggressive form of Diffuse Large B Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He is the only income earner for his wife and six-year-old daughter, and won’t be able to return to work until January 2019 at the earliest. With that in mind, Lindsey started a GoFundMe page July 5, and as of 11 a.m. July 13, $9,695 of the $60,000 goal had been raised. “I don’t even know how to put into words how I feel with what’s already been done,” Lindsey said, who is a parts and services manager at South Trail Hyundai in Calgary. “I guess one of the biggest things is how humbled I’ve been through this, and seeing the support that I’ve been seeing, it’s just unbelievable.” The funds are hoped to be used as a supplementary income during the time Lindsey is unable to work while completing treatment, the second of which he completed this July 9. Nenita, Lindsey's wife, said usually her family is on the giving side of fundraisers. “Obviously, you never wish this to happen to any family, and we’ve had people rally around us from the community and the town from the very beginning,” she said. “Chris has shaved his head to raise money for a young fellow that went through cancer who has, unfortunately, passed away, but he raised $5,000 for that family. We’ve donated our time to other head shaves for cancer and different stuff like that.” The Lindsey family extended their gratitude to the community for its outpouring of support. Miles Chester, a former colleague and friend of Lindsey's, said he immediately jumped on board to help since he has been in a similar position. “My son – two years ago – successfully fought testicular cancer and we had to do a GoFundMe page for my son. Because he was a contractor, and when he wasn’t working he had no benefits, he had no income coming in and it was a threat to lose his house,” Chester said, adding his son is now completely cancer-free. “As soon as I saw the GoFundMe page for Chris, I took the time to forward it to everyone I knew in my Facebook world, just to remind everyone that this happened to me and I’m hoping you can support Chris while he fights cancer, too. My heart goes out to him.” Anyone interested in donating to the Lindsey family can access their GoFund Me page here.
