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Same-sex parents of Ohio child battling stage 4 cancer receive ‘disgusting, hateful’ message

Posted at 1:42 PM, Apr 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-12 13:42:42-04

CINCINNATI, Ohio — The parents of a 1-year-old girl who is fighting stage 4 cancer are stunned after they said they received a hateful message from a stranger.

WXIX reports that Callie Shaffer was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January. She has been in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for more than 100 days, gone through chemotherapy, illnesses and a major operation.

Doctors removed about 90 percent of a tumor that was inside her abdomen.

Her parents, Tiffany and Albree Shaffer said until now, they’ve been overwhelmed with the support they’ve gotten in their battle especially through a Facebook page set up for Callie. Then, they received the message.

It said: “My prayers for Callie. I was going to donate $7600.00 to her fund, but I found out her parents are lesbian. I’ve chosen to donate to St. Jude due to that fact. Sorry. I’ll still pray for her though, but maybe it’s God’s way of getting your attention that she needs a mommy and a daddy, not two mommies.”

The girl’s aunt, Trishia Lamb, said the message was heartbreaking and hard to read.

“If you don’t agree with anything, that’s fine. We’re not asking you to. We’re not asking for that. We just ask for prayers and support for Callie,” Lamb told WXIX. “She’s loved. She’s being taken care of. Why does it matter? Why would you want to hurt someone who is already hurting?”

Despite how it made them feel, Callie’s family told WXIX that they thanked the person who sent the message and said that it’s brought more awareness to the little girl’s situation.

There are several fundraisers in her name, including on GoFundMe.