EAGLE POINT, Ore.– Earlier this week a local brain cancer survivor started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to buy a sewing machine for the woman she says was key to her recovery. After the initial story was released, these two women met a man who had a sewing machine and learned of the incredible story behind it.
“I knew that people would resonate with the story and like it,” said Sarah Wood.
“I was not expecting that at all,” said her friend, Kelly Matthews.
Several days ago, Wood started the GoFundMe page as a way to give back and show appreciation for Matthews. The response has been overwhelming so far with the page immediately filling up with donations and almost $300 short of the $1,500 goal as of Sunday morning.
“She was like, ‘Oh so by the way I just started a GoFundMe account for you,'” said Matthews, shaking her head and smiling. “And then a couple days later, ‘Oh so by the way, I’m going to be on the news tonight.'”
Matthews is the creator of Tumor Hater, a nonprofit organization that helps families dealing with tumor related issues by raising money to help them pay for medical bills and other expenses. Matthews herself suffers from neurofibromatosis type 1 which causes the growth of tumors along nerves all over her body.
Wood said she first met Matthews several years ago and was taken by how well she held herself and continued to care for others even while her condition was excruciating.
“When I met her I had my cancer that was supposed to kill me in two years and I was so scared and I felt alone,” said Wood. “When I saw she had all that stuff going on, she was so positive and she was just showing kindness to other people it helped me feel less alone.”
They quickly became friends and Matthews’ organization made Wood one of it’s heroes, supporting her and helping to pay for her medical bills. But Matthews’ own health took a turn and she soon found herself in surgery to remove a tumor from a cranial nerve, ultimately pushing her away from working on her nonprofit for a couple years.
In that time she still tried to sew capes for children battling cancer until her machine broke about a year ago. She’s been borrowing a sewing machine since but with Wood’s efforts and a gift from her neighbor – a change has come.
“It was really weird when I found out that he had a sewing machine that he wanted to give to us because it felt like a coincidence but at the same time it didn’t feel like a coincidence,” said Wood. “I was like, ‘I knew that would happen!'”
Her neighbor, Dan Dickinson, says he felt called to help after hearing their story. He lost his wife to cancer last year and realized it would have been what she wanted.
“I thought… she was always a giving person so I thought, ‘Hey, you know I bet this would make her smile if she was here,'” he said.
Seeing what Matthews was doing for so many others, Dickinson knew this is who deserves it most.
“Bringing happiness to them, it’s more important than people realize,” he said. “Because at that time in people’s lives, it’s hard.”
Call it fate, a stroke of luck or coincidence, for Matthews there’s no denying how much this means to her.
“This gift, it inspires me to continue to keep moving forward,” she said. “I think that loving one another is what life is about and he did just that to us.”
Now, Matthews hopes she can get back to sewing capes again along with the great team of volunteers she has by her side. She also wants to start branching out to other organizations to grow her nonprofit so she can start taking in heroes again and helping others.
For the people she has helped and will help in the future, it’s safe to say she’s a hero to them, even if she doesn’t think so.
“I would say that I’m a friend to the people that, that are struggling,” said Matthews.
Wood chimes in, “And I’m a hero.”
A portion of the money raised will go to compensate Dickinson for the sewing machine he gave and the rest of the donations from the GoFundMe page will go towards fabrics for the capes.
If you are interested in donating or volunteering with Tumor Hater you can learn more here.
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