ABERDEEN — A local woman has started a GoFundMe for her cousin who was recently diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer.

Jessica Santos said her cousin, Kathie Villarreal, 35, has been in the hospital in Pocatello for about three weeks now since receiving her diagnosis. She currently has three tumors.

“They can’t do much for her at the moment because she has an infection,” Santos said. “The cancer has spread in her stomach. They are hoping to see if they can reduce the growth of the tumors.”

Santos said Kathie is a single mother with three daughters. She had worked in the healthcare industry for a time, but she hasn’t been working for a few months since she’s been too sick. One of her siblings had to move in with her to help her pay her rent.

“She was hospitalized in Idaho Falls, but they told her it was a sciatic nerve,” Santos said. “She wasn’t told it was cancer until she went to Pocatello.”

Santos said the fundraising goal for the GoFundMe is around $20,000. She said Kathie’s parents are helping with her three daughters, and the family is considering sending her to the hospital at Utah State University for treatment.

“We’ve heard good things about Utah State,” Santos said. “We’ve talked about it, but that also costs money and time and resources that they don’t have.”

So far, Santos has been able to raise about $2,200 for her cousin through the GoFundMe. She asked the community to consider donating even if it’s a small amount.

“Any help would be appreciated at this point through her,” Santos said.

The GoFundMe page can be found at {a id=”anchor-83d470ab-dfe2-21a3-71b4-7bf3b73fc106” class=”x_linkPlaceholder” title=”https://gofund.me/184304e8a” href=”https://gofund.me/184304e8a” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank” data-auth=”NotApplicable” data-linkindex=”0” data-olk-copy-source=”MessageBody”}gofund.me/184304e8a{/a}.