As many of you know by now, Deputy Courtney Ward is fighting a rare form of cervical cancer and needs our help.
Two years ago Courtney was serving the city of San Clemente as a patrol deputy when she was diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma; an extremely rare kind of cancer.
Surgery and high doses of chemotherapy have done nothing to stop the cancer spread. Neither have 28 sessions of external radiation nor two sessions of internal radiation. At the completion of her original treatment plan, the cancer had spread to her liver and lungs.
Courtney and her husband Dave have been traveling to Maryland every month for the last 8 months to undergo two different immunotherapy trials at the National Institutes of Health in the hopes of fighting back her cancer, which so far has been resistant to treatment.
The first trial wiped out her entire immune system with chemotherapy and then repopulated it with her own “super T-cells” in hopes that her own cells would attack the tumors. When that trial failed to be effective, the second trial was supposed to assist her “super T cells” in fighting the cancer.
These therapies have killed certain cancers and are certainly the future of cancer treatment. Tragically, they could not stop the spread of Courtney’s.
Courtney and her husband, Dave, who works for the County of Orange’s Public Works/Development Services, are continuing to fight, but the prognosis is not what they had hoped for. After consulting with her two teams of doctors on the East and West coast they all agreed she only has a few weeks to a couple months left at best. On October 7th, following the advice of her doctors, Courtney entered hospice care.
The expense involved in fighting this rare, aggressive type of cancer has been overwhelming for the Ward family. AOCDS is accepting donations through the AOCDS Memorial Fund to help support Courtney and Dave. All online donations to the fund will be directed to the Wards until further notice. Donate here.
Checks can also be mailed to the AOCDS Memorial Fund, 1600 N. Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Please write Courtney Ward in the memo line of your check and address the check to the AOCDS Memorial Fund.
Unless stated otherwise, Courtney and David will be provided the names of all persons assisting them.
David is also in need of catastrophic leave donations while he provides care to Courtney.
Please keep Courtney, Dave, and all of their friends and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to fight.
Respectfully,
Tom Dominguez
The AOCDS Memorial Fund is an officially recognized IRS 501(C)3 tax deductible charitable organization that directly assists the surviving families of our fallen Orange County deputy sheriffs who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The fund also provides assistance to our active and retired Orange County deputy sheriffs, DA Investigators, their families and the loved ones of other fallen heroes during times of need as well as providing students with scholarships to help make college a reality. The AOCDS Memorial Fund has distributed more than $1 million in donations since 2005. The AOCDS Memorial Fund does not charge administrative fees and is in no way affiliated with the United Way or the Sheriff’s Advisory Council. Thank you for your support.
