A mother-of-two is planning her own funeral after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, despite only walking into the emergency room with a shoulder injury.
Erika Diarte-Carr, now 33, was told she has a highly aggressive form of small cell lung carcinoma when she was just 30 years old.
The single mother of five-year-old Ailiyah and seven-year-old Jeremiah learned multiple metastasized tumors throughout her body.
‘By that point the damage had already been done. In that moment, mine and my kids’ entire lives had changed forever,’ she said.
She was given the devastating news just one day before Mother’s Day in 2022, before learning on January 17 this year she also was living with Cushing Syndrome.
This caused her to rapidly gain weight, more than 60 pounds in a matter of weeks.
She began experiencing muscle and bone deterioration, high blood pressure, Moon Face and Type 2 Diabetes.
She told ABC 4 that Cushing’s also prevents her from being able to walk.
The single mother kept working full time for as long as possible, only taking two months off for appointments, surgeries, biopsies, radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
‘I have been ashamed and embarrassed for people to know the truth that I have kept this a secret for as long as I could,’ she wrote on a GoFundMe page, ‘but the physical effects are starting to take control, and I can’t hide it any longer.’
Treatments stopped when her scans began clearing up, but her Cushing’s dramatically impacted her health and quality of life in the following months.
She says her Cushing’s disease is one of the main reasons her health deteriorated so much to where she is now.
She ceased her treatments in September, as they were no longer effective, and was told she only had three months to live.
‘Three months to spend with my babies and loved ones,’ she wrote, ‘three months to make the best of what time I have left.’
Diarte-Carr explained that she wanted to spend time with her children without being sick from treatments and medications.
Saying all her energy now goes towards her kids, and she wanted to ‘just make the best of it’ in the time left.
She was now faced with the difficult duty of planning her own funeral, and ensuring her children would be looked after.
Asking for help in any way, she launched the page with a $5,000 goal to be used for her funeral expenses and support for her kids after her death. The fundraiser has since surpassed more than $750,000.
‘Due to me not being able to work for months now I do not have any finances saved up or any life insurance set aside for this situation. If you could please donate or share anything would be appreciated,’ she said.
Diarte-Carr’s cousin, Angelique Rivera, shared the heartbreaking photo of her children hugging their mother on a hospital bed and that her story touched the hearts of many.
‘We are at a loss for words and could never say thank you enough,’ Rivera wrote.
Viewers of the post reached out in the comments offering help and support to the family anyway they could.
‘Is there anything else we can do? Meals? Halloween costumes? Her story has touched so many!! Praying for her and her sweet babies.’ wrote one.
Another commented: ‘Omg I’m praying so damn hard for her comfort and for her sweet babies who will have to navigate without their mommy. This story ripped me apart. Please God watch over these beautiful people.’
Plenty of others offered help to the children and Diarte-Carr in her final months, with toys, donations, food, and asked how they can get involved.
She thanked those that have contributed, writing: ‘All the funds that have exceeded my funeral cost will now be put into a trust fund for my babies, that way I can leave behind something for them and I can still ensure they are going to be ok as they grow up.’
Diarte-Carr also expressed her gratitude for her medical team in Ogden for their ‘time, care and patience’.
‘Me and my family thank you ALL from the bottom of our hearts!’, she said.
She added: ‘[My children] are my whole life, light and soul. My children are my fight and what keep me going.’
Five-year-old Ailiyah told ABC 4: ‘She’s special to us.’
The family are planning a camping trip, and they hope the children will be able to experience another Christmas with their mom.