Care for Korey benefit held Saturday
The community came together Saturday afternoon at the Pine Island VFW to help raise funds for a young lady who was diagnosed in April with acute mylelogenous leukemia.
Korey LaJoie, 18, who was able to attend the event for a little while Saturday, said she liked the benefit and was glad it was held.
“My granddad has done a lot for me,” she said.
Stan Preston, her grandfather, and Karen Brown, a close friend of the family, decided to organize the benefit to help offset some of the medical bills the family has encountered.
Rob Matson also got involved in the benefit by enlisting musical groups for the event, which included five bands which donated their time.
An array of food, raffles, a 50/50 drawing, a silent auction and a bake sale were also included in the festivities.
Debra LaJoie, Korey’s mother, said in April she took her daughter to the hospital because of pelvic pains she was experiencing and feeling tired often.
Korey said she had a tumor in her stomach that was pushing against everything, causing great difficulty for her to walk and go to the bathroom.
The doctors originally told Debra that her daughter only had seven days to live. Korey ended up staying three weeks at the Sarasota Memorial Hospital before being moved to the Moffitt Cancer Center for a month.
Now Korey goes for check-ups once a week and has chemotherapy injected into her spine. Debra said in a few months, Korey will undergo a bone marrow transplant.
Korey is anticipated to undergo at least a year’s worth of treatment.
She said she was feeling good again Saturday afternoon and hopes to continue her first year of college with online courses through her recovery.
Her sisters, Kelly and Kacey, along with her stepbrothers, Josh and Joey, attended the event to show their support. Debra said they also had friends come down from New York to be a part of the benefit.
Debra wanted to thank her father and the community for coming out and supporting her family. She also wanted to thank the bands for entertaining the crowd during the benefit.
“This is great, I can’t believe how much people are caring,” she said smiling.