Donations surge to $1million for tragic Utah mother planning her own funeral

A young Utah mother has raised over $1 million for her own funeral after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Erika Diarte-Carr, 30, was given three months to live on September 18 and decided to create a GoFundMe to help ease the financial burden of planning funeral for her family.

She was at the hospital for a shoulder injury in May 2022 when doctors diagnosed her with Stage 4 small cell lung carcinoma - a rare form of cancer. 

In the following two years she suffered a host of health problems and ultimately decided to stop treatment and focus on being with her family, including her two young children Jeremiah, 7, and Aaliyah, 5.

Carr decided start her own fundraiser with a goal of $5,000, but was met with an outpour of support from friends and strangers alike that has raised over $1 million so far.

'It happened overnight. I never expected that,' she told ABC4. 'I never expected to have a big funeral service, or a lot of people reach out and help me. With the way it's went, I'm just in shock… just very grateful for everybody and everything that's been there.'

When she was diagnosed with cancer, Carr said doctors found multiple tumors that had metastasized to other parts of her body including her skeleton.

'By that point the damage had already been done. In that moment, mine and my kids’ entire lives had changed forever, as well as all of those around us,' she said on her fundraiser page.

On January 17 she was diagnosed with Cushing Syndrome - a hormonal disorder that occurs when the body is exposed to too much cortisol.

'It caused other issues like my swelling, not being able to walk, also it caused other health issues - majority of my health issues as to why I am as sick as I am now,' Carr told the local news station.

Then on September 18 doctors told Carr she has three months to live and was forced to decide if she wished to continue treatment.

'I was given a prognosis of three months to live if I stopped treatment. So I decided to stop treatment because I just had to use that last three months to spend with my children and just make the best of it instead of being sick from all the treatments and medications,' she said.

Now she is using the remainder of her time to make memories with her children and do her best to ensure they are taken care of in the future. 

'We're planning stuff now as far as like taking a family trip and doing things that can have or keep when I'm gone, memories. We're planning a camping trip to our family's land.'