OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) — Ogden mother Erika Carr, who had been fighting for life after being diagnosed with a rare terminal cancer, has passed away. People across the country rallied around her, donating over $1 million to her GoFundMe, which had an original goal of only $5,000.
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“It is with a heavy heart that this is the final update i will be giving for my cousin Erika. She has joined her mother Sylvia, her Brother JJ, her uncles Chava & Loui on the other side,” Carr’s cousin wrote on social media. “She fought a long and hard battle. She was strong and held on as long as she could for her babies. I know she was so thankful for all of your support and love and prayers.”
Erika Carr, 30, was a single mother of two children — Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5. She called them her “whole life, light and soul … and what keeps [her] going.” She was given three months to live, and she decided to spend it with her kids.
On May 7, 2022, Carr was diagnosed with Stage 4 small cell lung carcinoma, a “high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma,” she stated on her GoFundMe. Her diagnosis came the day before Mother’s Day, and she had been battling for her life for over two years.
Doctors told her, “I hope you have a good support system at home because you’re going to need it, you have a long and hard journey ahead of you.”
Her condition had improved — positive scans giving her the opportunity to stop treatment and see how she progressed. During this time, on Jan. 17, 2024, she developed Cushing’s syndrome — a rare hormonal disorder that occurs when the body is exposed to too much cortisol for an extended period. It had a multitude of difficult impacts on her body, including rapid weight gain and swelling, muscle and bone deterioration, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes.
Though she restarted treatment, on Sept. 18, 2024, doctors told her that she had three months to live. She chose to discontinue treatment and spend that time cherishing her two children.
Carr was given the seemingly impossible task of planning her own funeral, and she decided to create a GoFundMe to help cover the costs. She set a modest goal, asking for only $5,000, hoping that maybe she’d be able to leave some extra money behind for her children.
She received over $1 million.
There have been over 37,000 donations given to her cause. She created a trust fund before her passing, and she said she was thankful her children will be okay when they grow up.
“It happened overnight. I never expected that,” she told ABC4. “I never expected to have a big funeral service, or a lot of people reach out and help me. With the way it’s went, I’m just in shock … just very grateful for everybody and everything that’s been there.”
