OGDEN — Erika Diarte-Carr, a single mother living with terminal cancer in Ogden, has raised more than $1 million via crowdfunding to cover the costs of her own funeral and help provide for her children.

Diarte-Carr was diagnosed in May 2022 with Stage 4 small cell lung carcinoma after going to the ER with what she thought was a shoulder injury. After battling the disease for two years and enduring complications and other medical issues, including developing Cushing’s syndrome, the 30-year-old was given just three months to live.

“Nobody wants to get diagnosed with cancer, especially to know that, by the time you found it, it was terminal,” she told the Standard-Examiner. “So, that changed a lot.”

Although it was contrary to her inclination, Diarte-Carr later decided to launch a GoFundMe campaign with a $5,000 goal for funeral expenses. However, her story went viral, prompting a wave of donations from people around the world.

As of Wednesday evening, 37,000-plus donations had yielded $1,138,927.

“It’s really, it’s kind of overwhelming because I’ve never had help or reached out or had this kind of experience where I have so much support,” Diarte-Carr said. “I’m used to doing everything on my own. So, having all this love and support and just people there for me and my kids … everybody has really just come together for my family in a way that I never expected.”

Despite her prognosis, Diarte-Carr finds comfort in knowing that her children, ages 5 and 7, will have something as they grow up. With the excess funds that have been raised, she has been able to set up a trust fund for them.

“The funds are going into a chest for my kids, so it’s not going to be touched,” she said. “It’s just going away for the kids for when they’re older. There’s nothing drastic or out of the blue that we’re going to do with the money.”

Going beyond the money, though, Diarte-Carr hopes to leave her children with great memories. With the time she has left, she’s going camping with her family, having photos taken and planning a trip.

“I have the opportunity to do that with them before I go and I know I could just be at peace knowing that they’ll have these memories,” Diarte-Carr said.

While Diarte-Carr and her family have been taken aback by the positivity coming their way amid tragic circumstances, there has been a downside to the attention generated by her GoFundMe. Scammers have created copy-paste accounts on various social media platforms using Diarte-Carr’s likeness and info.

Moreover, there have been comments and posts questioning the validity of her illness and original campaign.

“They’re going on and just commenting and leaving the link on other viral like posts about her, or I’ve had people send me the accounts and they’re like, ‘Oh I got a friend request from this profile,'” Diarte-Carr’s cousin, Angelique Rivera, told the Standard-Examiner. “And then on those specific Facebook pages, I’ve heard that they’re asking for donations there as well.”

GoFundMe provided the following statement to the Standard-Examiner regarding the original campaign:

“Our hearts go out to Erika Carr and her family during this unimaginably difficult time. The empathy and kindness the community has shown in response to their story is truly inspiring. At GoFundMe, being a safe and trusted place to give and receive help is our top priority. Our Trust & Safety team continues to closely monitor the platform for any related fundraisers and remove any funds not approved by the family. Donors are protected through GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee, which offers a full donation refund in the rare case something isn’t right.”

Meanwhile, Diarte-Carr is focused on the good that has been done.

“I really just want to thank everybody for coming together and helping me and my family out. From close to far, just all around — everybody. I just want to give a thanks and just let them know that I’m very grateful for everything that they’ve done,” she said. “I’m glad that my story could help them and there’s a lot of people who have impacted my life and my kids’ lives and I’m just glad I got the opportunity to have these people in my life. I just want to say thank you to everybody.”

Added Rivera, “Her story will live on forever. It’ll never be forgotten.”