Recently, Deputy Doty has come into contact with organizations on campus to help out a dear friend. This person has been close to him for a very long time now and means the whole world to Deputy Doty. This strong man being described is Eric Augustine. 

On February 21, 2018, at just thirty years old, Eric was diagnosed with cancer. While this news is heartbreaking to any family, Eric’s story just happens to be a bit more tragic. He was diagnosed with Stage IV Cholangiocarcinoma, which is an aggressive cancer that has no cure. Eric and his wife, Danielle, were devastated by the news, they did not know how to express their pain. He was given just a few months to live due to the aggressiveness of the cancer.

Within these few months of the horrible news, two days to be exact, Eric and Danielle found out that they were pregnant with twins. The soon to be parents found the news to be wonderful, they were finally going to have not one child but two after trying for three years, but they also were scared considering no one knew how long Eric would be around. With the future image of being able to hold his baby boys, Eric fought hard and long everyday.

It has now been a year since Eric has been diagnosed and is now on borrowed time. Eric has gone through surgeries and chemotherapy treatment, all of which have not been successful. He is asking for donations if anyone feels inclined to do so there is a basket in the finance office where students and staff can donate.

Over this past week students at YLHS have come together to support the family in their time of need. Cameron Carlson (12) has stepped up, along with Cole Smith (12) and Jared Mesa (12), to help out the Augustine family. This past Thursday, Cameron set up a fundraiser at the local Chick-fil-A. The fundraiser went from 11 am to 8 pm and Chick-fil-A gave the family back part of the money made between those times. According to Cameron Carlson (12), he said that he “felt so fortunate to support this family and bring awareness to the rare form of cancer Eric developed. To see the smile on there face when they saw all we did for them was worth it enough for me.”

This last Friday Jared Mesa and Cole Smith conducted a movie night in the Forum to help out the family. The movie being played is The Incredibles 2 and the tickets were 5 dollars for students and 10 dollars for the rest of the community. A lot of people from all over the community came together to support the Augustine family on March 22. The Forum was full and people had to be turned away due to the fact that the Forum couldn’t hold enough people that wanted to go.

Overall Eric and his family are fighting as hard as they can right now. They are getting so much support from their friends and family. If you want to donate to the cause go to the Finance Office, there is a bucket for donations. You can also donate on the go fund me account made for his family.  EricAugustine