By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
* Donate online
* Jordyn’s obituary
* May 30, 2014: Fighting for ‘a place where cancer does not exist’
Allyssa Jordyn Beck stood atop the steps outside the Robert L. and Elizabeth S. Cole Auditorium at Richmond Community College in Hamlet and readied to speak.
Submitted photo
Allyssa Jordyn Beck leaves behind her parents and her 5-year-old daughter, Maddi.
She had, beyond a doubt, the full attention. It was May 30, 2014. Jordyn, 22, stood a few inches in front of her parents, Lenny and Crystal “Chris” Beck. They held each other. Jordyn was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma at the age of 16 while she was six months pregnant. Twice told she was in remission, doctors sat her down for a third time. It was back.
“We wish every day we could take this away from her,” Chris Beck said. “It’s the most helpless feeling … when something like cancer comes along, there’s nothing you can do but pray.”
The family is praying again. Jordyn lost her battle with cancer on Thursday. Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Cordova Baptist Church with the funeral to begin at 3 p.m. Rev. Bill Monroe and Hospice Chaplain, Chris Thornton will be officiating. Burial will follow at Richmond Memorial Park.
Jordyn’s daughter, Maddi, is 5 and lives with her grandparents. While Lenny has remained at work over the years, Chris left her job at Food Lion to help care for Jordyn and Maddi.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Allyssa Jordyn Beck, left, is joined by her parents, Crystal and Lenny Beck, during the 2014 Relay for Life event at Richmond Community College.
Prior to Jordyn’s diagnosis, the couple had seen no reason to get life insurance on their daughter. After the diagnosis, obtaining insurance was impossible. Everyone knew Jordan’s case was terminal.
The family is now in the unenviable position of having to fund Jordyn’s funeral while continuing to care for Maddi, a kindergartener at West Rockingham Elementary School.
“Yesterday, when they went to the funeral home, the funeral bill was right at $10,000,” said Samantha Henderson, whose husband is Jordyn’s first cousin. “The burial bill is at $1,200 because they’re burying her on a Sunday.”
A family friend has established an online GoFundMe account in which to collection donations to help the family. The goal is set at $15,000. Through 1 p.m. Saturday, a total of $1,820 had been donated.
It’s been an exhausting six-year struggle. Beyond the natural connection between a mother and daughter, though, the lives of Jordyn and Maddi will always be linked. Henderson explained.
“When she got pregnant with Maddi and she started to show, that’s when she could see the mass on her hip,” Henderson said. “That’s when they found out.”
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