Community coming together against cancer

WALCOTT, Iowa (KWQC) - According to the CDC, liver cancer affects about 36,000 people in the United States each year, causing death in roughly 28,000 patients.

The Quad Cities community rallied in Walcott Sunday afternoon to support Danae Martin, who is currently battling stage four liver cancer.

“It was the middle of January,” recalled Martin’s mother Ruth Hazen. “She had called me and said ‘Mom, I’m in the emergency room and they found spots.’”

According to Hazen that initial hospital trip, back on January 11, identified small pockets of cancerous cells on Martin’s liver. Immediately after receiving the news, Hazen started seeking a solution, flying in from her home in Florida to help her daughter.

“At that point we were very discouraged with the diagnosis, but we were able to contact the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, Illinois, and we got a phone call right away. The guy said we’ll get you here as soon as we can, so within a week that’s where we were,” Hazen said.

Martin has a long road ahead of her fighting off the cancer, and her family and friends wanted to do more for her. This desire to support prompted Jessica Fuller, Martin’s friend, to start a fundraiser benefit.

“We just wanted to make it a centralized location where she could have all her family and friends be together for her,” Fuller said. “We have an event page on Facebook and it allowed us to livestream the benefit so she could watch from the hospital, and we let people know she was watching and to give her a wave as they walk by.”

Hazen also said Martin is slowly but surely improving, that her current lab results and bloodwork are improving with treatment, and this benefit is helping to show Martin the support she has within the community.

If anyone is interested in helping Martin with her medical journey, her family has started a GoFundMe page.

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