OAK GROVE, Ky. – In late December, a Kentucky woman who was 30 weeks pregnant with quadruplets delivered them early via C-section because of a grim diagnosis: her cancer was back.
Having married military police officer Charles Gaytan in early 2016, Kayla Gaytan learned just a week later that she had Hodgkins lymphoma, and endured months of chemotherapy before the cancer went into remission.
At that point, however, doctors told her it was unlikely that she’d be able to have kids after the grueling treatment, reports People. When they learned just a few weeks later they were expecting four—conceived naturally—the couple “couldn’t believe it,” Kayla Gaytan says.
All was going well until, 28 weeks into the pregnancy, she was told she’d need more chemo, and urgently. Initially, when Charles Gaytan started up a GoFundMe page to help cover their medical bills, he set a goal of $5,000, and they were surprised to see it gradually tick past $18,000.
Then, after the family appeared on Fox News last week, the floodgates opened; the Eagle Post reports that the story went viral in minutes, with several hundred thousand dollars donated in the first few hours.
Now, a few days later, more than 16,000 people have donated more than $1.13 million, which includes one anonymous donation of $8,000. “Our family has truly been humbled and amazed by the kindness of people,” says Kayla Gaytan, who has been given a 50-50 chance of surviving five years.
“We’re just in shock.” (A 65-year-old woman went through in vitro fertilization to add quads to her 13 children.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: Mom Had Quadruplets Early to Start Chemo, Gets Big Help
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