An online fundraiser is underway to help an Abbotsford Police officer and his wife as they both battle cancer.
The GoFundMe campaign for Warren and Jen Maarhuis began Thursday (Jan. 3) and, as of Friday afternoon, had raised almost $40,000.
Warren is an officer with the Abbotsford Police Department and Jen is a former civilian employee with the department. Together, the couple have two daughters – Charlotte, 10, and Hailey, 12.
The GoFundMe page states that Jen was hospitalized with blood clots in 2017 and diagnosed with a form of blood cancer.
She has been on chemotherapy and blood thinners ever since and has had several surgeries to remove tumours. She is no longer able to work.
Warren was diagnosed with invasive melanoma in August 2022, had surgery to remove 16 lymph nodes and underwent chemotherapy.
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In November 2023, he learned the cancer had returned all over his body – including his shoulder, ribs, liver, hip and leg – and he was diagnosed with stage four cancer.
“Warren is currently in the thick of it, undergoing aggressive immunotherapy treatments and multiple rounds of radiation,” the GoFundMe page reads.
“Due to these treatments, Warren has developed immunotherapy-induced colitis and is now hospitalized.”
The fundraising campaign was started to help relieve the family’s financial strain “to focus on Warren’s treatments and the healing of his body, as well as to help in the pursuit of experimental treatments.”
“Those who are blessed enough to have met the Maarhuis family know them as a loving, loyal and passionate bunch,” the GoFundMe page states.
“The family has had its share of adversity over the last few years, and now with a recent cancer diagnosis for Warren on top of Jen’s already existing battle with cancer, we are asking for your help to lift the financial strain of that battle.”
The page states that Warren has been a police officer for 10 years and describes him as “a gentle giant who repeatedly has made a huge impact in his community.”
The campaign can be found by searching “Help the Maarhuis family fight cancer” at gofundme.com.