Laid-off couple diagnosed with cancer overwhelmed by help from strangers

A Calgary couple who lost their jobs due to the economic downturn before both being diagnosed with cancer will have a merry Christmaswith their two teenage boys after all, thanks to the generosity of strangers.

By Friday night, aGoFundMe page started by Dan and Darlene Desgagne has raised more than $55,000 in a matter of days, easily eclipsing its $15,000 goal.

Dan was laid off from his job in the oil and gas sector in the spring of 2015. He went as far as going back to school in a bid to find full-time work and began taking construction jobs wherever possible to pay the bills.

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It was at a wedding over the September long weekend that Darlene noticed Dan's neck looked "quite lumpy" on both sides.

When they returned home, Dan went to see a doctor and received some bad news.

"They did an ultrasound on his neck and there were some really bad things happening," said Darlene.

"They thought at the time it was Hodgkin's disease, did some more blood work and then we had more appointments to see a surgeon and an ear, nose and throat specialist, and they finally found the primary tumour."

Cancer had spread to Dan's lymphatic system but the primary tumour was at the base of his tongue.

"They told us he was at stage 4," said Darlene. "That was kind of the beginning.September was just a whole series of appointments to get a proper diagnosis and get some more biopsies taken."

In October, the couple received more devastating news Darlene was laid off from her job in the accounting field, leaving them without a stable income.

"It was unexpected and it was a devastating blow," she said. "How do you try to find work when your husband is dying?"

'We know when we need help'

Darlene was able to find another job in a matter of weeks, but eight days after she started, in early November, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer.

That forced her to give up the job she'd just found and undergo a radical hysterectomy, which she is now recovering from.

A friend then suggested they start a GoFundMe page to try and raise some much-needed money.

Dan was initially against the idea, but the friend convinced Darlene to go through with it.

"We know when we need help," she said.

"I talked to him and he was kind of [unsure] about it so I talked to my friend further and she said 'I think it's really essential right now because you two need to focus on getting better.'"

The response was overwhelming, said Darlene.

"It skyrocketed. We were stunned with the amount of compassion that we received," she said. "It was just amazing how people reached out. It really has lifted a huge burden off of us."

As Darlene recovers, Dan is now in his second week of radiation and chemotherapy.

"He's about to enter the uglies of his disease, so it's going to be [grueling] for him," said Darlene.

Along with being on his tongue and in his lymph nodes, some 20 nodules were also found in Dan's lungs.

Through it all, the couple said their love for each other and their family has kept them strong.

"We just look at it as a building character to the next step," said Dan.

"I've always been under the impression our struggles on Earth are what they are, they build character, they allows us an opportunity to be benchmarked on our entry through the gates perhaps."