This single mother raised over $1 million for her children before passing away from terminal cancer.
Erika Diarte-Carr, who was mom to Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5, sadly passed away on Saturday, according to her cousin. Angelique Rivera shared via a heartfelt Facebook post:
“It is with a heavy heart that this is the final update i will be giving for my cousin Erika. She has joined her mother Sylvia, her Brother JJ, her uncles Chava & Loui on the other side.”
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Erika was just 30. So, so sad. Reflecting on the late mother’s lengthy cancer battle, Angelique continued:
“She fought a long and hard battle. She was strong and held on as long as she could for her babies. I know she was so thankful for all of your support and love and prayers.”
But before she moved on, she did one last amazing thing.
In June, Erika opened up about her health struggles on a GoFundMe page, which she set up to raise money for her funeral and in hopes she’d be able “to leave something behind for [her] babies.” In her first post on the fundraiser, Erika explained she went to the ER on May 7, 2022, for what she thought was a shoulder injury. Unfortunately, she was “diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer,” specifically, small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). She recalled:
“The doctor’s words replaying in my head, ‘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.’ The doctor than proceeded to tell me that there were multiple tumors that had metastasized to other parts of my body including my skeletal, which is how we were able to find the tumor that was causing my shoulder pain. By that point the damage had already been done. In that moment, mine and my kids’ entire lives had changed forever, as well as all of those around us.”
Sadly, on January 17, 2024, she was then diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome, a disorder in which someone’s body “makes too much of the hormone cortisol over a long period of time,” per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. It’s a very rare condition affecting only 40 to 70 people out of every 1 million people, the NIH reported. Whoa.
According to the single mother, this syndrome quickly led to many issues, such as “rapid weight gain & swelling (60+ lbs in a matter of weeks), muscle and bone deterioration, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and Moon Face.” Moon Face is when someone’s face appears swollen and round.
On September 18, she was really forced to face the brutal reality of her impending death. She revealed she had “decided to discontinue treatments” since they were no longer working. She was given just three months to live.
She wanted to do the “difficult thing” of planning her funeral to help her family after her passing. Because she was also forced to stop working due to her health, she had no “finances saved up or any life insurance set aside.” She was hoping to raise $5,000, but quickly raised an impressive $1 MILLION instead! Amazing!! As of this writing, the page has raised a whopping $1,192,810. Incredible! Any money not spent on the funeral will go into a trust fund for her children.
On October 1, Erika’s cousin turned to Facebook to share the 30-year-old was able to “finalize her funeral services” ahead of her death. She was also planning to be baptized with her children on the 13th — but she tragically died the day before. While she was no longer around, her son was baptized anyway. That must have been such an emotional ceremony.
Details on Erika’s funeral service have not been made public. Our hearts go out to her entire family, especially her young kids. What a very tough loss, but we hope all the donations will help to make this transition less stressful. Those who wish to donate can still do so HERE.
R.I.P.
[Image via Erika Diarte-Carr/GoFundMe]
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