A woman has been bombarded with tragedy after losing her home, wrecking her motorcycle and being diagnosed with cancer all within 24 hours.
Wendy Hansen, from Mitchellville, Iowa, had been running errands with 61-year-old fiancé Russ Farnsworth when the series of events began to unfold on July 2.
The accountant, 47, explained: ‘I went from losing my home, to wrecking my motorcycle which I absolutely adored, to this lady standing in front of me saying I have cancer.’
She said that the heartbreaking setbacks had been ‘overwhelming’ but that she remains determined to tackle the problems head on.
Wendy Hansen, from Mitchellville, Iowa, had been running errands with 61-year-old fiancé Russ Farnsworth when the series of events began to unfold on July 2
The couple had been out riding their motorcycles when Wendy received an urgent alert that their home was on fire with their 27 pets – three exotics, three dogs and 21 sugar gliders – still stuck inside
They raced to get back and in their haste Hansen, who was not wearing any protective gear, hit a culvert in the road and was thrown from her Victory Magnum bike.
But with the adrenaline still pumping she shrugged off the pain, hopped on Russ’ motorcycle and continued the journey to their home.
She told the publication that although the house was surrounded by woods, they could still ‘smell the smoke and hear all the windows getting broken out by the firefighters.’
Wendy saw her house engulfed in flames before being rushed to hospital where doctors found she had broken her scapula and collar bone, needed six stitches in her left knee and suffered numerous other bumps and bruises in the crash.
Doctors decided to run a CT scan to ensure that she was not suffering from internal bleeding – but, as a result, found a mass on her kidney.
It was diagnosed as renal cell carcinoma – a form of cancer – and Wendy will now need to have at least part of her kidney removed.
She will also likely need radiation or chemotherapy depending on the results of a biopsy.
Doctors found she had broken her scapula and collar bone, needed six stitches in her left knee from a deep gash and suffered numerous other bumps and bruises in the crash
But doctors said that the trifecta of events could have been a blessing in disguise as often the cancer is not detected until later stages, adding: ‘This motorcycle crash just saved your life.’
Sadly, the couple lost everything they owned including six of their pets in the fire – which is said to have started under a deck where flames ignited a propane tank.
The duo, who have been together for 12 years, are currently living with Wendy’s son as they begin rebuilding their home from scratch.
There has also been a GoFundMe page set up to cover the costs of medical bills as well as the building costs.
