Peachland school bus driver gets support during cancer treatment

Funds are pouring in to help a Peachland school bus driver navigate a recent cancer diagnosis.

In less than a week, more than $10,000 has been raised to help Captain Kelly in his stage 3 lung and lymphatic cancer fight.

"His departure from his post as the School District Peachland bus driver and his position as touchpoint cleaner at Glenrosa Middle School was abrupt and shocking," reads a GoFundMe Michelle Parsons dedicated to him.

"Kelly is also faced with the loss of his part-time job with Kelowna Cruises as one of their captains and the work he did for boat maintenance."

Parsons pointed most people all been touched by cancer in some way and it is not a disease that gives up lightly.

"We are so glad that Kelly has not been alone in his fight through the bumps he has already had to face," she wrote.

"He has been hospitalized twice since his diagnosis in early April."

He's going to face six to eight weeks of radiation, for five days a week starting Monday,May 17. He will also get chemotherapy once a week. 

Parsons said students who were on Captain Kelly’s bus and the staff he worked with are feeling a huge loss as he made such a positive impact on their lives.

"Captain Kelly took special care of his riders. He fought for them, rewarded them, and ran a tight ship (pun intended)," she said.

That is made evident through the comments on the donation page.

The goal is to supplement his lost income by providing him with monthly payments from your generous donations for the foreseeable future.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Kathy Michaels or call 250-718-0428 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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Kathy Michaels

Kathy Michaels has been an Okanagan-based journalist for more than a decade, working for community papers along the valley and beyond.
She’s won provincial and national awards in business, news and feature writing and says that her love for telling a good story rivals only her fondness for turning a good phrase.
If you have a story that deserves to be told in a thoughtful and compassionate manner, don’t hesitate to reach out.
To reach Kathy call 250-718-0428 or email kmichaels@infonews.ca.

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