Bridgewater Mother Of 4 Battles Cancer, Children Rally For Support

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Susan Gallagher, a native of Bridgewater and now living in Somerville, is a woman who never gives up. She worked hard her entire life helping her four children graduate from Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

She even continued to work full-time, setting up a card table in her hospital room with a computer to work, while receiving chemo treatments for her Leukemia diagnosis.

Now her children are rallying the community to help their mom who recently went into septic shock that caused her to be hospitalized and go into a coma around the holidays.

Kate Gallagher, the youngest of Susan's four children, has set up a fundraising GoFundMe website to help cover her mom's medical bills.

It was on Nov. 14, 2022, when Susan Gallagher was found barely conscious in her bed and taken to the ICU. On Nov. 18, 2022, she went into septic shock and acute respiratory distress, said Gallagher.

She remained in a coma for about three weeks before waking in December.

"The doctors don’t see people come through what mom has gone through, but unless her heart gave out, we were not ready to stop," said Gallagher.

Gallagher said the doctors were in "disbelief" about her recovery. Susan continued to improve and on Feb. 9 she was discharged to her mother's home.

"She will continue to receive physical and occupational therapy and hopes to get back to work as soon as possible! Continuing chemo is also in the cards, but we do not yet have an update on the leukemia status," said Gallagher.

Unfortunately, Gallagher said all of the medical treatments and rehab come with a cost.

"Throughout everything, we ran into obstacle after obstacle with insurance, and even after figuring all of that out, the bills are piling up. The medical costs are VERY high in addition to having to continue paying her rent, college loans, and other bills," said Gallagher.

Gallagher noted that her family doesn't usually ask for help, "but the medical situation at hand and an imperfect healthcare system can humble anyone in an instant. Anything helps."

To learn more about Susan Gallagher's fight or to donate click here.

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