The Bacik family knows their community is behind them tonight after a fundraiser at Bottle House Brewery in Lakewood and a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $30,000 in a month for medical bills.
The Bacik’s thought the hard part was over. Kevin is a barber and Ashlin is a hair stylist, meaning COVID shut down their business completely for months last year.
In the last few months, business finally started to turn around.
“We’ve been busier than ever,” said Ashlin. “People have been supporting us like crazy.”
But then, Kevin’s shoulder started to hurt.
“And that went on for probably two weeks before his back started to hurt,” said Ashlin.
A few weeks after that, the family rushed to the emergency room when Kevin’s legs started going numb and he had trouble walking.
“Very quickly, they let us know that his spine was actually fractured,” said Ashlin. “They told is it was actually indicative of cancer.”
It was Stage 4 cancer in Kevin’s kidney and it had already spread, requiring emergency surgery, learning how to walk again, and a lifetime of treatment and mitigation.
“Kidney cancer is a nasty cancer,” said Ashlin. “Once it leaves the kidney, it is incredibly difficult to control.”
Donated prizes helped the family raise money Sunday for their quickly-growing medical bills while having a chance to see friends again.
“This is our life now so we have to not spend everyday in sadness,” said Ashlin. “We have to persevere and make sure that these moments that we have are full.”
“It’s kind of been hard,” said Ashlin and Kevin’s daughter, Veda. “I think that just going along with it, staying calm, hoping is just going to make everything better.”
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