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Bartlesville

Posted: Jan 15, 2020 10:32 AMUpdated: Jan 15, 2020 11:47 AM

Hoover Elementary Looks to Help Family in Need

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Garrett Giles

The staff at Hoover Elementary School in Bartlesville is asking for your help with raising funds for the Meijer’s family.

Alex and Tori Meijer live in Bartlesville with their two-year-old daughter Ember. The couple has been married for 6-years after they met for the first time in the Netherlands where Alex is from. In August, Alex was diagnosed with Stage 4 terminal cancer at the age of 33.

Amanda Daniels at Hoover Elementary has created a GoFundMe to help bring Alex’s family to Bartlesville from the Netherlands. She said Alex is unaware of this effort, but his wife knows what her friends at Hoover are planning, but they need your support.

They are doing what they can to raise $6,000. So far, they have raised $2,750.  Daniels said if they can get 20 people to donate $5, that is $100 that can go towards the airfares, rental cars and meals Alex's family might need on their trip to Bartlesville. She said they are also looking into seeing if people will donate cars for the family to use.

When Alex was diagnosed in Houston last August, doctors told the family in the Netherlands when they were visiting that he would have a year to two years to live. CAT scans revealed that the cancer had spread to his liver and his lungs, and the only things the doctors could do was chemo therapy every two weeks.

At the end of November 2019, the chemo was working; there were no cancer spots in Alex's lungs. In December, severe cramping crept back into Alex's stomach. He maintained his chemo therapy thinking that it was just the affects of the treatment that was causing the pain he was experiencing.

On Tuesday, Jan. 14th, Alex was admitted into the Jane Phillips Medical Center. They have done blood work and CT scans at the JPMC, all of which have shown that the cancer has grown significantly in his body. The blockage is said to be so large that nothing can be done.

Daniels said that any money over the $6,000 goal they have will go towards medical expenses the family has incurred. If you cannot give, friends of the Meijer’s family ask for your prayers as Alex is believed to only have days to weeks to live.

This has hit the Hoover Elementary School family in Bartlesville hard. Daniels has worked at Hoover for six years and she has been able to get close with the Meijer's family of the year. Both Tori Meijer and Daniels are 3rd grade teachers. The two have young children (Tori has a one-year-old daughter and Daniels has a three-year-old boy) that have grown together.

When the news broke that Alex would not have long to live because of his cancer, it really tugged at Daniels' heart to do anything and everything in her power to be a support system to the Meijer's family. She said it has been amazing to see how the Hoover family has stepped in and how they have showed that they are willing to let the family know that they are behind them.

A giving link to help bring Alex's family to Bartlesville from the Netherlands can be found here.


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