R.I.P. Deborah Clark

It is with sadness that we inform you that our friend Deborah Clark lost her battle with Cancer early this morning. The Hotties were just touched with her story on Monday evening through one of us...and we leapt into high gear to organize an upcoming fundraiser for her family...here is what our Hottie Beth had to say about her friends situation...

My friend Deborah is 29 years old and has been fighting cancer for the last year and a half. Deborah is a single mom of three kids. Her oldest boy is in the third grade, he is nine, followed by a daughter who is 7 and is in the first grade. In August of 08 Deborah was six months pregnant with her third child when she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. They did immediate surgery and delivered her baby boy on Aug 29th of 08, his due date was Nov 4th. Despite spending 4 months in the NICU at KU med, he was able to go home with oxygen and a respirator, and only required in home treatments for about a month. We are happy to say that today he is thriving and doing well. However, after her first surgery Deborah was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. She is currently in hospice and her family (her friends are her family) are asking for help with her final arrangements and for her children.

I have know Deborah for 11 years and I can not imagine something this terrible happening to such a nice person. Deborah has not had the best of luck in the game of life, but she has always managed to keep a smile on her face. Her ex-husband and her divorced several years ago, they had two children together. Deborah had always been a stay at home mom and until the divorce had never really worked. She did not have the best childhood. She dropped out of high school and left her family in California and has not spoken to them much since then. After her divorce, Deborah went back to school, got a job, and met a really nice guy named Jeff. Deborah and Jeff moved in together and shortly after she became pregnant. Jeff and Deborah did not get married because Deborah did not want him to be left with all of her medical bills and debts. She was no longer able to work after her diagnosis. Jeff has also taken lots of time off of work to care for Deborah and their baby. They are not in the best financial situation. Deborah has always been the type of person to focus on the positive rather than the negative. She went to Hospice House at the first of the year. Despite the doctors predictions, she has managed to fight on longer than any of them expected.

We are so sorry for this loss, and ask everyone to keep her family and friends in your thoughts. The Hotties will still be hosting the fundraiser at Johnny's on the 23rd of February...see the previous post for more information and contact us if you are interested in making a donation to this family in honor of the fight that Deborah made.

FlaminHotties@hotmail.com