Lara family abandons selling off house to afford cancer treatment, as community rallies around them

A Lara family has had to abandon the sale of their home to help pay for the Dad’s cancer treatment, amid “overwhelming” support of a community fundraiser.

A LARA family has had to abandon a bid to sell off their home to help pay for the Dad’s cancer treatment, amid “overwhelming” support of a fundraiser launched to help the family with mounting mortgage repayments, bills and medical costs.

Michael Maddigan, 49, said the family had hoped to offload their beautiful Lara house in order to pay off their mortgage and refinance a new home with enough money to pay a mounting pile of bills they faced after he was forced to stop working while receiving treatment for Oesophageal cancer.

Michael Maddigan

“We had the house up for sale as we wanted to get rid of our mortgage, but as the time has passed, we wouldn’t be able to refinance to buy another home, as I am no longer working,” Mr Maddigan said.

“And it will be too much for us to move with the operation coming in July. I will be too sick and recovering for the next few months after that.

“So we will do whatever we have to do to stay in our beautiful home we built after my last cancer battle.”

Mr Maddigan’s 17-year-old son Tyson – an apprentice bricklayer - launched a GoFundMe page last week to help take some financial pressure off the family.

“We are now struggling financially with trying to keep our house and all of the things my dad has worked so hard for these past years,” Tyson wrote on the fundraising page. “We are starting to struggle with our payments on our home, all types of bills and just general things you need to live a healthy and enjoyable life.”

“Due to my dad not being able to work for up to a year now my mum is the only one working to keep the money rolling in which isn’t going to cut it because she is only working four days a week - and may have to take even more days off to take my dad to radiation and Chemotherapy which means even less income.

“And I am working as an apprentice five days a week but the money isn’t the greatest, as we all know.”

Michael said he was grateful for his “legend” son and the almost 100 people who had so already donated about $13,500 to the cause.

Michael had been in remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma since about 2014, before he was recently diagnosed with oesophageal cancer – likely caused by the radiation therapy used to treat the first cancer.

“Cancer is an absolute prick and it just destroys people, it destroys families,” he said.

“Last time I had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, so I fought that for about 11 and a half months in and out of hospitals, but back then I was able to continue to work, because the regime of the treatments weren’t as hectic as what they are now … this time I can’t work at all.

“Financially it just makes it so hard.

“Knowing this time that I can’t even earn a dollar, I know I have to accept some help, and I really appreciate it from everybody we know who’s donated, and from the people who I haven’t got a clue who they are who have donated – it’s overwhelming. It’s unreal. Amazing.”

For more information, or to donate, visit gofundme.com/f/support-my-dad-and-our-family-to-fight-cancer

Originally published as Lara family abandons selling off house to afford cancer treatment, as community rallies around them