Danish Veteran´s 2nd fight against cancer

Why do I collect money for this particular Veteran and his family?

Having known Martin Søndergaard for more than 10 years, lived with him and shared many memories (both in the military and as a civilian) with him, my family and I will do what we can to help when needed - And that's definitely now!

The fight against cancer, which Martin and his family won in the first place, unfortunately did not turn out to be over. Martin is yet again hit by birthmark cancer and the family is now struggling harder than ever before.

Purpose of the funds raised

Whatever amount of money is collected through this fundraiser, will be paid out regularly to Martin's wife, Jeanette. The money is supposed to help the family, including their 3 small children, to be able to stay in their house in Viborg.

You can donate to the collection in 3 ways:

1) Donations via MobilePay go straight to the family through a dedicated fundraising account in our name. To do so, transfer to +4528262076 "Kristina Sunde" - Only in Denmark.

2) Direct bank account transfers goes to the family through the dedicated fundraising account in our name as well. This is done by transfer to Reg. 5096 Account. 1645293 or IBAN. DK7750960001645293.

3) Use the "Donate Now" button, where it is possible to donate by credit card through the secure payment service - Stripe. Transfers through Stripe will be deducted a fee of approximately 7% before being deposited into our dedicated fundraising account.

Remember - Every cent counts! We are infinitely grateful regardless of the amounts being raised. Every amount helps them greatly!

In order to better understand their challenges, I have asked Jeanette to describe the time from Martin's first fight against cancer ...

This is her story:

In February 2012, Martin came home from a mission in Africa, the Seychelles, where I was pregnant with Mille-Caroline in the first trimester. We got married on March 24, just days before the next mission in Afghanistan.

One morning, Martin called me from Afghanistan and told me that he had a birthmark that kept bleeding and filling with fluid. It was rather annoying as it was placed right at the belt of his uniform.

Martin went to a doctor at the base where he was recommended to wait until he got home, as the field hospital was unable to send any samples for examination at the base in Afghanistan.

In the meantime Mille-Caroline threatened to come premature, and I was hospitalized while my water was leaking slowly. Martin decided quickly to come home so he could be by my side. In collaboration with the military he returned home on the 3rd of June and quickly got a time with the doctor, who urgently sent him to the dermatologist, where the birthmark was removed and submitted for examination.

Mille-Caroline was born June 10th, barely 2 months early, and we were admitted to the neonatal department. On June 13th, Martin was diagnosed with birthmark cancer, only 26 years old, and from that point started a hair-raising, horrible and harsh course, that could not compare to his military missions.

The cancer had spread to the lymph nodes in one side of his groin and Martin underwent 6 operations, while our little daughter grew larger and stronger in the neonatal ward.

She was our light in the dark.

The operations gradually became "butcher-surgery" as the cancer continued to return, and the doctors announced that they could no longer operate Martin. We even contacted a specialist within birthmark cancer at Aarhus University Hospital, who agreed to involve Martin in a trial of immunotherapy. It was our last hope to kill the disease. After a medically difficult course over 4 months, the treatment seemed to work. We held our breath every time Martin went to the checkup scans, but each time we got a positive message that everything looked fine.

Martin was actually supposed to get checkups for 10 years, but since the doctors did not see any relapse after the first 5 years, they did not need to follow Martin for another 5 years. For that reason, the oncology department in Aarhus closed his medical file in September 2017, just a few days after our third child, Nynne-My, was born.

It was both liberating but at the same time very challenging not to have checkups anymore. It was not so easy to let go of the fear of the return of cancer, which had become part of our lives ...

At the end of October 2018, Martin was dismissed from his job as a Business Development Manager and was actually very clarified about it. He was offered to come back to the Air Force, where there were several positions that he could choose from. It felt right for him and for us, and we were looking forward to a new chapter in the new year.

However, fate had other plans for our family ...

In early November 2018, Martin was sent to his own doctor for an X-ray, then ultrasound scanning, MRI and CT scan, due to increasing pain in his left hip.

The scans gave us an answer that exceeded our worst fears ...

The birthmark cancer had returned.

After further PET / CT and MRI scans, we were told that the cancer had returned with renewed strength. Martin's hip, pelvis, femur, tibia, lung and brain were affected by cancer metastases.

The world came to a standstill ... But we also knew at once that now we should quickly adapt ourselves to being ready to fight. We knew from previous events that we ourselves had to push the doctors and hospitals to make things happen quickly.

Now we are here ...

Martin is in the process of immunotherapy and is fighting the hardest fight of his life. In addition, we are in a very difficult situation, where we fight frantically to maintain safe and accustomed frames and weekdays for our 3 children, but due to the nature of the case we unfortunately have the prospect of having to sell the house as Martin's income from February 1st this year will decrease to healthcare payments.

We are surrounded by so many heart-warming people who embrace us in so many ways with their devotion and consideration. It is so touching to feel the unity around our little family, and words cannot describe the gratitude that we feel towards you all.

Without you, the odds would not be on our side. You give us strength, will and unconditional love, and we feel that you are struggling with us.

From our hearts, thank you!