GoFundMe For Braintree Cop's Wife With Breast Cancer

BRAINTREE, MA — The Braintree Police department and the community are rallying around a police officer's wife, who was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant for a second time. Four years ago, Officer Nate Killefer and his wife Jodi were expecting their first child, but during the pregnancy, Jodi Killefer was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite undergoing treatment, she gave birth to their daughter, who's now a healthy 3-year-old.

But this year, the same thing happened while the Killefers had their second child on the way. And this time, things were a bit more complicated. The cancer was more aggressive, spreading to her lymph nodes while she was 18 weeks pregant. Jodi Killefer needed to go in for chemotherapy weekly until the baby was born. A GoFundMe page was set up for the Killefers. On July 11, Jodi Killefer had to go into surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her lymph nodes after the chemotherapy stopped working.

On July 23, Jodi Killefer said she went into premature labor and had to deliver the baby early at 35 weeks. Calvin, the Killefers' son, was born, but his lungs were not fully developed, so he's been in the hospital since.

"He is in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) on a ventilator helping him breathe because his lungs aren’t fully developed," Jodi Killefer told Patch. "Once I recover from my cesarean section I will resume treatment for breast cancer and hopefully Calvin will be home with us in two to six weeks."

With Jodi Killefer's cancer still active, both Killefers will be out of work for a while for her treatment and to take care of their new child, Braintree police said.

"We don't normally post GoFundMe pledges, but this is family," Braintree police said in a Facebook post. "Both will be out of work for some time, so every donation no matter the amount will make a difference."

As of 3:27 p.m., Thursday, $7,865 of the $10,000 goal was raised for the family.

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