The tattooed bartender from Survivor Palau, Angie Jakusz has been unfortunately diagnosed with squamous cell colorectal cancer.
One of my favorite seasons of Survivor was one of its least conventional early seasons. Palau had a great variety of interesting characters on its tribes, with characters like Stephenie LaGrossa, Angie Jakusz, Ian Rosenberger and Tom Westman showing the various triumphs and lows of the game at its most extreme.
Unfortunately, we have some sad news to share today. Angie Jakusz, New Orleans bartender from that season, has been diagnosed with cancer. A GoFundMe page has been set up by her husband to cover the $30,000 in debt incurred from pre-diagnosis expenses, of which wasn’t covered by her current insurance.
Angie suffers from a rare form of squamous cell colorectal cancer, according to her page. Luckily, with an expected 80% success rate among patients that undergo the proper chemotherapy and radiation treatments, things are looking as optimistic as possible, considering the situation she’s in now.
Those who are in the New Orleans area can stop by c.b.a New Orleans on Sunday, January 14 from 3 – 9 p.m. local to participate in a benefit for Angie Jakusz. A $20 cover includes food from Piece of Meat Butcher & Red’s Jambalaya, live music and a 50/50 silent auction raffle. All proceeds will directly go to cover Angie’s medical expenses, as well. The event will be kid-friendly.
The Survivor community has already lost a few members of its former players to various forms of cancer, including Borneo‘s B.B. Anderson to a massive stroke and brain cancer, plus fellow Palau player Jenn Lyon to breast cancer. This disease has such a devastating impact on people around the world, and the medical expenses that follow lengthy diagnosis processes and treatments shouldn’t act as a second infliction.
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Again, if you can, support Angie on the GoFundMe, even if it means sharing it around on social media. We at Surviving Tribal wish you nothing but the best!