OGDEN, Utah ( ABC4 ) — A mother in Utah who has been fighting for her life after being diagnosed with a rare terminal cancer has now been given three months to live, and she’s decided to spend it with her kids. People across the country have rallied around her, donating over $750,000 to her GoFundMe, which had an original goal of only $5,000.
Erika Carr, 30, is a single mother of two children — Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5. She calls them her “whole life, light and soul … and what keeps [her] going.”
On May 7, 2022, Carr was diagnosed with Stage 4 Small cell lung carcinoma, a “high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma,” she stated on her GoFundMe. Her diagnosis came the day before Mother’s Day, and she’s been battling for her life for over two years now.
Doctors told her, “I hope you have a good support system at home because you’re going to need it, you have a long and hard journey ahead of you.”
Her condition had improved — positive scans giving her the opportunity to stop treatment and see how she progressed. During this time, on Jan. 17, 2024, she developed Cushing’s syndrome — a rare hormonal disorder that occurs when the body is exposed to too much cortisol for an extended period. It has had a multitude of difficult impacts on her body, including rapid weight gain and swelling, muscle and bone deterioration, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes.