Columbus, OH – Erika Forsberg, the niece of Meadows’ horsemen Sal and Dina Digati, who last summer was diagnosed with Adrenocortical Carcinoma, an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer of the adrenal gland, is stranded in Italy with double pneumonia and needs to return to her doctors in Pittsburgh as soon as possible.
Donations can be made at the gofundme, “Help Erika Forsberg in her Final Months,” to assist with medical expenses, especially the extensive cost ($140,000) to charter a Medivac airplane necessary because Erika is not stable enough to fly on a commercial flight.
Dina’s sister Donna Ruter, who is Erika’s mother, described the desperate situation that her daughter is in.
“Her doctors in Pittsburgh know her case inside and out, and we are trying to explain everything to them in the language. Barrier is terrible. And also, with this being such a rare cancer, they have never even heard of it,” wrote Ruter in an update to the gofundme posting.
Originally, the gofundme was set up to raise funds for this trip to Italy and Switzerland while Erika’s medical condition would still allow her to make it.
Erika, who is just 30 years old, was in Rome for only two days before ending up in the hospital with double pneumonia.
“She had surgery on August 1 to remove the tumor and her adrenal gland, but it has now metastized to other organs and is stage 4,” explained Erika’s mother Donna on the original gofundme post. “Her oncologist informed us that even with chemotherapy treatment, it would only extend her life a few extra months and she would have debilitating side effects from it.”
Adrenocortical Carcinoma is so rare that each year only one in a million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with it.