Erika Diarte-Carr, 33, pictured with five-year-old Ailiyah and seven-year-old Jeremiah, is planning her own funeral(Image: GoFundme)

Mum-of-two planning own funeral after walking into hospital with shoulder pain

Erika Diarte-Carr, 33, has been told she has just three months left to live following a terminal cancer diagnosis and has now raised a huge sum to 'make sure my kids will be okay after I am gone'

by · The Mirror

A mum-of-two has started to plan her own funeral after her shoulder pain turned out to be terminal cancer.

Erika Diarte-Carr, 33, walked into a hospital emergency department three years ago complaining of discomfort - only to be told she had a highly aggressive form of small cell lung carcinoma and multiple tumours throughout her body. The mum of five-year-old Ailiyah and seven-year-old Jeremiah has spent the years since undergoing cancer treatment while thinking about what comes next for her children, and has been fundraising for her funeral to take the burden off her family. 10 days ago, she was told she had just three months to live.

Erika was first told she had small cell lung carcinoma on May 7, 2022, the day before US Mother’s Day, and said she "walked into the emergency room due to what I thought to be just a normal shoulder injury and walked out diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer". The doctor informed her there were multiple tumours that had metastasised to other parts of her body, including her skeleton, which is where the tumour first showed up. A second blow came in January when she was diagnosed with Cushing syndrome, which had caused her to suffer rapid weight gain & swelling, muscle and bone deterioration, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.

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She has also been diagnosed with Cushing syndrome, which had caused her to suffer rapid weight gain and swelling( Image: ABC)

Speaking out about her struggle, she added on the fundraising page: "I have been ashamed and embarrassed for people to know the truth, that I have kept this a secret for as long as I could but the physical effects are starting to take control and I can’t hide it any longer. I’ve never been good at accepting or asking for help but unfortunately, I believe I’ve come to a point in my life and health where that is no longer an option for me. I am no longer able to physically work which has put a major financial burden on me."

Erika Diarte-Carr with her two kids( Image: Facebook)

On September 18 this year, she was told had just three months to live after an appointment with an oncologist. Revealing the moment she was given the devastating news, she wrote on her GoFundMe page: "Unfortunately, I wasn’t given the best news. Due to my prognosis, I have decided to discontinue treatments as they will no longer help. I have been given three months to live. Three months to spend with my babies and loved ones. Three months to make the best of what time I have left.

"During these next couple of months, I need to make sure my kids will be ok after I am gone. I am faced now with the most difficult thing of planning my own funeral. Due to me not being able to work for months now I do not have any finances saved up or any life insurance set aside for this situation. I have looked into the expenses and I need to raise about $5,000 to ensure funeral costs are covered plus I want to leave something behind for my babies." She has now raised a staggering total of over $750,000 (£560,000) on the page after setting an initial target of just $5,000 (£3,700), and says the additional funds will be put into a trust fund for her children.