Daughter Of Slain Sandy Hook Principal Battling Rare Cancer

NEWTOWN, CT — Erica Lafferty has been fighting for changes in the nation's gun laws ever since the death of her mother, Sandy Hook Elementary School principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, in the 2012 mass shooting.

But lately, she's been fighting for her life.

Six weeks ago, Lafferty was diagnosed with stage 2 orbital lymphoma. A week later, doctors discovered large masses in her lymph nodes. Based on the orbital tumor's rate of growth, Lafferty said doctors told her, "It's not a matter of if these masses turn into cancer, it is when."

Tremendous fatigue has become her constant companion, but other, more erratic, symptoms have become an even greater source of alarm.

"This tumor is very large and sometimes pushes into my frontal lobe and I lose all cognitive function. Sometimes, I'm completely blind in my left eye because that's where it decides to push," she told Patch

As a result, Lafferty is undergoing radioactive iodine therapy concurrently with her chemotherapy, an aggressive treatment designed to beat back her body's invaders on both fronts as quickly as possible.

It's also one not supported by her insurance company, as her lymph nodes still read as "zero" stage for cancer.

Lafferty's friend Melissa Lewis began a GoFundMe to help pay for the treatments, which can cost up to $7,650 per cycle, according to the fundraising site. As of Monday morning, the campaign has raised $71,053 of its $100,000 goal.

As well as sending Lafferty scrambling for additional revenue, the diagnosis also prompted a drastic change in her diet. She must now eat all raw foods, avoid dairy, and — cruelest cut of all — lay off the pasta.

"You know, you wouldn't know it with a last name like Lafferty, but I'm pretty Italian," she joked. Less funny: Since she has begun "eating fresh," her grocery bill has caught fire.

Shortly after her mother's death, Lafferty began working with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which later merged with Moms Demand Action to become Everytown for Gun Safety in 2013. Her tireless work advocating for domestic violence laws, secure firearm storage, and state background checks, along with her Sandy Hook lineage, has made hers the go-to soundbite for just about every national network reporting on a school shootings the past 10 years.

'So I reached out to these news outlets and was like, 'Hey, can you share my GoFundMe? You're my friends, I've done everything for you, everything you've asked,' I've never said 'no'.''

The response she received shocked and surprised her.

"I gave them 10 years of my life, and they would not share my GoFundMe, something that essentially is a matter of life and death for me," Lafferty said. "I'm 37 years old, and I walk around my house with a walker, … I'm weak, and I'm tired, and I'm in pain, and I just need some freakin' help. For one time in a decade, I'm asking for something for me."

The "Help Lafferty Beat Lymphoma #SurvivorsSurvive" GoFundMe fundraiser is online her.