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Danielle Wehunt, a single mother of two, received her diagnosis, an experience she called "traumatic," on February 22, 2023, according to her website and a GoFundMe created by her friend.
"I did not expect to be in this situation I am in," Wehunt wrote on her photography and art website. "I did mostly everything and as much as I could the right way. I don’t really drink. I don’t smoke... I’ve been a good girl. And now…. well, now I have breast cancer."
While coping with the news of her cancer diagnosis, Wehunt's thoughts continually turned to her children.
"I worry about how scared they will be," Wehunt wrote. "I know from my own experience with my own dad. I don’t wish this on them. They don’t deserve it."
Wehunt is not dealing with the news alone, though. Her friend of 25 years, Kyra Giesel, created a GoFundMe campaign that has garnered over $6,000 in only five days.
The fundraiser is designed to support Wehunt as she undergoes a double mastectomy planned for Tuesday, April 18. Wehunt will use two weeks of PTO during the surgery and its immediate aftermath, but after that she will be on short-term disability leave which will only cover a portion of her salary.
"Even though additional recovery time is needed, she feels like she will need to return to work after taking two weeks of PTO in order to make ends meet," Giesel wrote.
Wehunt does not have family in Massachusetts, Giesel said, and has had to take care of herself and children on her own.
"She works incredibly hard to take care of her kids and is running thin on energy between working 12 hour days, running kids to school and after school activities, house chores, and the constant doctors appointments," Giesel continued."She could really use some help to be able to recover properly. She is not the kind of person to ever ask for help, but even she realizes that she can’t do all of this alone now."
To view the GoFundMe campaign, click here.
Wehunt's art and photography sites can be found at either jdaniellephotograph.com or curiousdarling.com.
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