Donate to help Jesse, Kate and their family

Message to everyone who has contributed to this fundraiser:

First of all thank you for your support during this incredibly challenging time for my family. Your generous donations have made a huge difference in our world; it has helped both financially and emotionally. We feel seen, loved, and never alone.

A couple weeks ago our health insurance was wrongfully terminated and some of Kate’s healthcare providers were asking me if I was ready to pay out of pocket for her care. Just knowing that this fundraiser was there to help if it came to that, gave me security and helped me not to panic. Kate’s sister Erin has been helping me try to resolve the insurance issue, and we are hopeful of an outcome in our favor. At any rate, your donations have brought comfort and confidence to our family in an unbelievably stressful situation.

Our beloved Kate has entered the next phase of her journey. Thankfully she has ‘round the clock care and is generally comfortable. This is far from easy, but we have the best friends and family, and an abundance of community support, all of which makes our situation more manageable. We are so thankful for everything that we have.

Your generosity has brought warmth and courage to our family, and the gratitude I feel is beyond whatever thoughts I can convey here and now. With kindest regards I thank you all.

Peace & Love,

Jesse Herdman

Original Post:

Hi, my name is Shawn. My family and I are starting this fundraiser for our nephew Jesse, his wife Kate, and their two daughters.

Jesse and Kate's daughters are 2 and 1 year old. Two months after their second daughter was born, Kate started having seizures. After going to the doctor, it was discovered that Kate had a brain tumor. Kate has undergone two surgeries, chemo, radiation, and immunotherapy. The surgery left Kate with complications similar to a stroke. She had countless hours of physical therapy to be able to walk again as well as speech therapy to be able to communicate better. Kate who is only 35 years old has been fighting valiantly with all she has to get as much quality time with her husband and two beautiful daughters Riley and Shae.

In June 2023, she had a clear brain scan. Fast forward five months to November 2023, Kate's symptoms started reappearing and she had another MRI scan. Unfortunately, despite all her progress this summer and fall, an aggressive terminal grade 4 glioblastoma tumor was discovered. As you can imagine this situation has taken a toll on their family in so many ways including financially. Kate has been unable to work since she was diagnosed and Jesse has taken so much time off from work to take Kate to all of her appointments and be by her side. Now, Jesse is only able to work a very limited amount of hours and soon will have to be home 24/7 to take care of Kate and the children.

If anyone would like to donate so that Jesse can stay by his wife's side through this terrible time, it would be very much appreciated. Please pray for Kate, Jesse, and their daughters.