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Who was going to take care of his single mother, who was recently diagnosed with a stomach cyst, and grandmother if he can’t?
In the months before he died on Feb. 13, Cory James Blanchard, an 18-year-old senior student at Chicopee Comprehensive High School, got involved with a GoFundMe campaign. The goal of “Hope for Cory” is to raise money to help cover medical bills and associated costs (such as gas to and from Boston, meals, and lodging) accumulated over five years of cancer treatments.
“One of the hardest parts of this terrifying journey, for me, is seeing the toll that it has taken on my mom and my grandma,” Cory said on the GoFundMe, which is being organized by Cory’s longtime girlfriend Allison Woods.
“They have been with me through everything,” he continued. “They try not to worry me, but being 17 yrs old I know they are struggling financially trying to keep our lives as normal as possible on a fixed income.”
As of Thursday, Feb. 18, the campaign had raised $3,385 with a goal of collecting $5,000 in donations.
A Chicopee native, Cory was known for his athleticism; he played lacrosse, was a member of a local Airsoft team, and was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, according to his obituary.
Cory was first diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a bone cancer, in 2008 when he was 13 years old, Cory explained in the introduction to the GoFundMe page. The cancer was detected in his arm. Cory went through 9 months of chemotherapy and had reconstructive surgery on his arm.
He was cancer-free for about a year-and-a-half before doctors discovered a tumor on his back and cancerous spots on the exterior of his lungs. Then it was back to chemotherapy, trips to see Boston doctors, and surgery to fight cancer.
Family and friends are remembering Cory as bright, engaging, and kind.
Cory is survived by his mother Andrea Archambault, father David Blanchard, and step-father Lenny Martial as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and girlfriend.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Corridan Funeral Home in Chicopee.
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