Where there's a Wil, there's a way!

"My sister and I are so glad we found Chuffed to help our brother Wil.

The best position to be in is one where you really don’t need anyone’s help or charity.   Unfortunately, my brother Wil can use the help of family, friends, his doctors and nurses very much right now.  I am grateful to have found Chuffed to help Wil through the financial struggle side of being sick and recovering.  Chuffed.org has made it easier for us to share and reach out to Wil’s vast community of support.

Here is the broader story of Wil’s struggle with cancer and why it is so meaningful to us that he wins his battle.  For the first time, we’re sharing our very personal back story on Chuffed:

Our family has had its share of hardship in the last year.  We lost both our parents in 2016 leaving three siblings; Wil, Dina and me to carry on.  Now by brother Wil, the oldest, has been diagnosed with mouth and throat cancer.  Despite our distance, me in Vancouver, Dina near Toronto and Wil just outside Montreal, I’d say we remain a close family.  Certainly, the events of last year brought us much closer.  Losing a parent causes a big shift in your life’s perspective.  Losing both in such a short space of time causes you to age overnight.  Almost instantly, we are the elders of our line.

To shift that perspective further, now our big brother is doing battle with cancer.  And while it’s always important that a loved one fights and beats cancer, our circumstance makes it all the more necessary.  Though cancer and any major surgery brings risks, we are somewhat relieved by hope that Wil’s cancer is an often treatable one unlike mom’s lung cancer.  Still, the surgery, chemo and radiation are very hard, traumatizing and not something you’d want a loved or anyone to have to endure.  We so look forward to the other end of Wil’s journey, when he emerges from his recovery.

Dina and I have families, her with both kids in late high school and university, mine still in their single digits.  We are making sacrifices to help Wil as family does, but our Chuffed crowdfunding campaign is making this much easier.  I have found crowdfunding incredibly rewarding in the past, but always as a contributor.  I find it so easy to give and respond to someone’s need.  I love contributing and seeing how everybody’s “little” can go a long way to helping someone with a genuine need.

Now we find ourselves grateful, on the receiving end of our community; friends and relatives, who are helping us help Wil with his expenses during a long recovery process.  If all goes well, in the end, the disease will leave some scars but it won’t leave Wil or anyone of us with a heavy burden of debt."

Phil Katsikas

To support Wil and his family at this tough time, head to their campaign page: