ROSEMOUNT, Minn. (KARE) - A Minnesota school bus driver is used to picking up kids, but now, those kids are the ones picking her up, as she battles stage 4 cancer.
In 64-year-old Heidi Carston’s 10th year as a bus driver for Independent School District 196, life took an unexpected turn. She got back from her morning route in late November to a phone call from her gastroenterologist.
“In one phone call, my life was changed forever,” Carston said. “The biopsy showed that I had cancer in my stomach.”
Carston, whose family has a history of cancer, was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic gastric cancer. It was inoperable.
In December, she had to tell her students she wouldn’t be their bus driver in the new year. One of the side effects of chemotherapy is an extreme intolerance to cold, so she couldn’t continue her route.
“I miss it every day. I’ve passed my bus on the road, and now, it’s hard,” Carston said. “Stage 4 cancer is really kind of a tough pill to swallow.”
She is now at home in Rosemount, going through chemotherapy.
As much as Carston misses her students, they miss her, too. Noah Webber, a sixth grader at Black Hawk Middle School, was in his first year on Carston’s route when he heard about her cancer diagnosis.
“I started thinking about trying to do something, and I really couldn’t just stand there and watch it happen. So, that’s why I chose to start fundraising,” the 11-year-old said.
Noah came up with a bake sale, making apricot muffins and his grandmother’s homemade banana bread, each treat baked with love. He raised $974 then added $26 of his own money to make an even $1,000.
The family delivered the money, a card and baked goods to Carston and her husband.
“I just couldn’t even believe it,” Carston said. “Pretty awesome kid.”
With gifts, flowers and cards, the students from Carston’s bus are staying with her as she steers a new route.
“Just thinking about all of this gives me a little more will to fight,” she said. “Who knew that a bus driver could make an impact on them?”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Carston as she navigates new expenses from her cancer diagnosis.
Copyright 2024 KARE via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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