Gilroy
– A 23-year-old Gilroy High School graduate recently was
diagnosed with cancer, and with no way to pay the medical bills,
his family is asking for help.
A month ago, George Ruger, a 2000 GHS grad and former student of
El Roble Elementary and South Valley Middle schools, discovered he
has stage four, non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Gilroy – A 23-year-old Gilroy High School graduate recently was diagnosed with cancer, and with no way to pay the medical bills, his family is asking for help.
A month ago, George Ruger, a 2000 GHS grad and former student of El Roble Elementary and South Valley Middle schools, discovered he has stage four, non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He now lives in Santa Cruz with his fiancee and their 3-year-old daughter, Alana. Ruger’s mother, Carol Schmidt, said the couple plans to wed next month.
Ruger started working at Mission Linen in Santa Cruz about three months ago but has been told he will lose his job, his mother said. His fiancee is a stay-at-home mother.
Ruger moved to Santa Cruz a few years ago when his mother and her husband, Rob Schmidt, bought a Subway restaurant there. Prior to moving, the Schmidts managed the Subway restaurant near 10th and Chestnut streets in Gilroy for four years. The Schmidts are planning to sell their restaurant in Santa Cruz and move to a small apartment with Ruger to keep a close eye on his treatment and progression.
Ruger was an avid volleyball player in both middle school and high school. He wanted to be a police officer in either Santa Cruz or Gilroy, his mother said.
Ruger had been feeling tired and run down with little appetite for about three months. He couldn’t afford a doctor’s visit and assumed he had the flu, his family said. After collapsing about three weeks ago, he was taken to Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz. Doctors ran several tests including a biopsy, which was sent to Stanford University Medical Center and revealed the cancer.
Since then, Ruger also has experienced kidney stones and has undergone two blood transfusions. He had his first chemotherapy treatment last week and will have six to eight more before starting radiation treatment, his mother said. Doctors have not given a life expectancy.
Donations:
Rob Schmidt
2215 Mission St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
