Latest / IndieNewsNow LIVE! Clips / People Need Help - Chanda Masta, Nataliya Vlechkova, Aspen Martin - GoFundMe

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People Need Help - Chanda Masta, Nataliya Vlechkova, Aspen Martin - GoFundMe · IndieNewsNow LIVE! Clips

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Who are these people?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, I'm going to get to the GoFundMes.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Shanda posted an update.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Shanda Master, Beauty and the Boomer.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I realized I didn't even mention her last name last time we were live.
• 0:20
  Shanda Master from Beauty and the Boomer online has been going
• 0:24
  through the
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Small cell lung cancer, which then expanded into her liver.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: And she gave us an update the other day that it further expanded again.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: January 4th.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Quick but important update.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: She's now going through experimental treatment.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: And again, this is I'll read it real quick.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, my dearest friends and family.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to share a quick but important update.
• 0:50
  Over the past six weeks,
• 0:51
  I spent much of my time in and out of hospitals and doctor's
• 0:54
  offices.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm now in Seattle and receiving care at Fred Hutch Care Center.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: I completed second line chemo in early December.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, it didn't work as well as we'd hoped.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: While it did eliminate the 11 metastases in her liver,
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: new metastases have appeared in her thyroid and right lung.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: The good news is that her brain scan is still clear since Thanksgiving.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: She needed eight blood transfusions,
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: which made Christmas especially difficult,
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: but she was grateful to still have a good day surrounded by family.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because of how aggressively her cancer is progressing,
• 1:32
  the local cancer center has exhausted its treatment options and
• 1:36
  referred her to
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Fred Hutch for third-line treatment.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that comes with a whole set of issues on its own.
• 1:42
  This means traveling over 100 miles,
• 1:44
  including a ferry ride into downtown Seattle.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Shanda's car isn't reliable enough for that journey,
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: but she's incredibly thankful for our dear friend Amber King,
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: who lives in North Seattle.
• 1:56
  She came to get her,
• 1:58
  and she's currently staying with Amber while she undergoes
• 2:01
  treatment.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: She was initially scheduled to begin a clinical trial,
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: but at this time,
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: she's considered too weak.
• 2:09
  Instead,
• 2:10
  the plan is to start a newly approved FDA drug,
• 2:13
  which was approved in November.
• 2:15
  This medication helps the immune system recognize and attack
• 2:18
  cancer cells.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: However,
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: it comes with significant side effects,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: so she'll need to be hospitalized in Seattle for the first doses.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: She'll get a starter baby dose this Friday,
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: followed by her first full dose a week from Friday on the 16th.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: She'll get treatment then every two weeks.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: She's scared,
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: and we're scared for her,
• 2:41
  especially since this drug crosses the blood-brain barrier and
• 2:46
  can affect cognitive
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: function.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And because she can't afford to travel back and forth,
• 2:51
  she's going to be staying with Amber until there's a long
• 2:53
  enough break in treatment
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: for her to go home.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's something she's still trying to figure out logistically,
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: and being so far from home has been incredibly hard.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: She's very homesick, and
• 3:04
  Still covering the cost of life at home while also managing the
• 3:08
  expenses of being
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: on the road and undergoing treatment.
• 3:12
  She misses her home,
• 3:13
  her bed,
• 3:14
  her cats,
• 3:14
  her doctors,
• 3:15
  her pharmacy,
• 3:16
  everything familiar.
• 3:18
  Navigating a new medical team in a big city while being this
• 3:21
  sick has been overwhelming.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Fucking fuck cancer, man.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And fuck this medical system.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Amber is taking wonderful care of her.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Amber.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Love to Amber.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: But she'll need to return to Seattle every two weeks for months.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Santa's asked about financial assistance and is waiting to hear back,
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: but she needs help now more than ever.
• 3:43
  So thank you from the bottom of her heart for all the love and
• 3:46
  support and kindness
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: that we've shown her over the past 16 months.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: She truly would not have made it this far without her.
• 3:54
  wishing all of us a very happy and healthy new year and hope
• 3:59
  that 2026 brings
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: better health and brighter days for all of us.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: And, and I, that, it just, it breaks me to read that stuff.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: I, I love her and I, fuck cancer.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's so sad that good people,
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: this happens to,
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: um,
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: we,
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: we were able to give $50 to this over the,
• 4:20
  holiday break,
• 4:21
  we gave out some mutual aid to all the GoFundMes that we've
• 4:24
  been supporting.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: but please,
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: if you're able to,
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: here is,
• 4:29
  here is Shanda's link to her GoFundMe so you can drop her a
• 4:33
  couple of bucks and
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: help her manage the costs if you're able.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, exactly, Kate.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's just a couple of days from now, Friday the 9th.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And, okay, so next we've got Natalia...
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Natalia is also in the process of being deported.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: They are appealing right now.
• 4:58
  Anthony said that they had taken some money and funded the
• 5:01
  appeal and they took
• 5:02
  some money and gave it to her daughter who needed that for some
• 5:05
  stuff at school.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Totally understand.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Natalie, who's donated quite a bit.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Again,
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Natalia has been here legally for nine years,
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: currently in the process of applying for a green card.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: She was taken into ICE custody and locked up for months.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And still has not been able to get out.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: We want her free.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: We need her free.
• 5:28
  She did not do anything to warrant justifying locking her up
• 5:32
  for six months and
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: then deporting her on top of it.
• 5:35
  So she's got to start all over in a country where she was
• 5:38
  granted asylum from here
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: because we read her letter on the air.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then there's justice for Aspen.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to our friend Halo Benson, Aspen's mom.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: I heard from Halo over the winter break.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for the fudge that she sent over Christmas.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Much love.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate that.
• 6:01
  They have been able to fund an investigator,
• 6:05
  but they are still in need of a lot.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that is just the first step.
• 6:09
  And since we hit the $12,500 mark,
• 6:12
  I don't think that very much has come into her GoFundMe.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Again, she's going to need a bunch more to fund lawyers and lawyers.
• 6:20
  investigators and who knows what else,
• 6:24
  and life,
• 6:25
  by the way,
• 6:26
  while she's doing this.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: She's not really working.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you can purchase her art by going to this link,
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: tr.ee slash justice and the number four Aspen.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a link to her artwork.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: There's a link to the GoFundMe.
• 6:39
  There's a link to watch the interviews that I did with her and
• 6:43
  the fundraiser we
• 6:44
  did to read the article that Descent in Bloom had written about
• 6:47
  her story.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And just how wrong this all is.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Again, here's Aspen's GoFundMe, which is up to $12,572.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we got a couple of bucks.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: I know it had just gotten $12,500.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: And again, much more is needed.
• 7:03
  So if you're able to,
• 7:05
  please support these amazing causes and these fantastic people.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: I also wanted to point out two things here.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: The merch store at IndieNewsNow.com.
• 7:16
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• 7:18
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• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: beanies,
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: hoodies,
• 7:23
  and support the media you want to see by wearing our logos and
• 7:28
  telling other people
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: about the network and about shows in the channel.
• 7:33
  I also wanted to mention that I have been maintaining this
• 7:37
  weekly calendar,
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: which you can link to from INN Newsletter's weekly updates.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this is updated in real time.
• 7:45
  So even tonight's live stream is on here and you can see a link
• 7:49
  to it with the
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: title and everything.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this kind of lays out the schedule of all the live streams,
• 7:54
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• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: and the clips that are being generated daily.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you can go back,
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: and this goes back to the middle of November,
• 8:02
  and find every single piece of content that INN put out
• 8:06
  uniquely between us and our
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: members.
• 8:09
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• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: I built this in a Canvas site.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's really not mobile-friendly, but it's a great...
• 8:18
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• 8:20
  I'm going to work on building something like this into
• 8:23
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• 8:25
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• 8:27
  But in the meantime,
• 8:27
  please leverage this website to find all the stuff at INN.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can also find that again at INNNewsletter.com at the weekly updates.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you again for supporting Independent Media.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for supporting me.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Have a good night, and we'll see you soon, fam.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: I love you.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, we just fucking lost the stream.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: I guess this isn't such an awful place.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Is that what you want?
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: I still think you're right here away.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: The cost of living isn't much to make.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: But God, it's so hard to say.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And when they told you everything was said.