Not long ago local readers were asked to help Sophi Sanchez, and it seems they delivered. Reached by telephone, Travis Krizan said that area residents had helped raise some $14,344.56 for on-going cancer treatment. As part of the fundraiser, donors were entered into a drawing to win gift cards, with a $500 gift card going to Alexa Lisewski, plus two gift cards for $250 each that went to Don and Judy Schesel and Samantha Kobs. The 14,344.56 in direct fundraiser proceeds, meanwhile, will go to help the family.

“All the proceeds will go to help the family,” Krizan said, who matched the public’s donations after making a voluntary pledge. The couple was motivated, he said, by having a sense of what Sophi and her family were going through, and wanting to help.

“Nobody wants to see a kid go through this,” Krizan said of Sophie’s ongoing fight against cancer. “She’s really a warrior.” Present alongside Sophi for her long hospital stay and surgery was Sophi’s mom Jennifer Gorham Cornell, who shared the following update on how Sophie was doing recently.

“She is currently 60+ days in the hospital,” Cornell said. “We are finally moving in the right direction and are hoping to be home next week. She has had 11 surgeries since she got admitted on September 21, 10 of which have been emergency or unplanned. She still has a long road ahead of her but we’re moving towards home,” Sophi’s mom said. Sophi was declared in remission as of August 2018, before symptoms resembling those of appendicitis in October 2019 made it known the cancer was back. The Stanley-Boyd 12-year-old underwent surgery to remove a tumor inside her abdomen that was pressing against arteries and nerves in her right leg. A big thank you to all who donated to help alleviate Sophi’s medical costs!