An 11-year-old battling cancer has captured the hearts of Prince George, but his fight is not over.
After Brody Dery’s family found out he has Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system, he had to stay home from school a lot and has been attending treatments in Vancouver.
As Brody begins his next battle with chemotherapy this week at B.C. Children’s Hospital, local businessman and philanthropist John A. Brink has announced he will match the next $10,000 in donations on a GoFundMe page set up by friends of the Dery family.
As the family doesn't qualify for many supports offered, the Derys are also grappling with undue financial stress during what is described as the worst time imaginable.
“The doctors have decided to continue the treatment plan as before. They are worried that the alternative medications they were considering for immunotherapy would basically attacked Brody's body because of his Crohn's disease,” says Britney Rumbaugh, one of the GoFundMe organizers, in a recent update.
“At this point there are a lot of unknowns with Brody's treatment, and having the community Rally behind Brody will make such a difference.”
Before his cancer diagnosis, Brody was fighting Crohn’s Disease, and, as a result, has been dealing with many gastrointestinal issues that have caused difficulty to gain and maintain his weight.
Brody’s mom Randi was also forced to quit working to support Brody’s health and with his cancer diagnosis, this has meant more trips to Vancouver.
Friends of the family created the crowdfunding campaign to help Brody and his family just before Christmas 2020, which has since raised close to $21,000 of its $50,000 goal.
Brink says he'll begin matching donations to the GoFundMe effective immediately.
John A. Brink will match the next 10K in donations to the fundraiser. By Rally for Brody
