Erik Jensen, who played Dr. Steven Edwards in the post-apocalyptic medical center in the now legendary series The Walking Dead, has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer that is already in stage four. The news comes after the actor's wife, Jessica Blank, has organized a collection of funds and donations through a campaign on social networks in order to cover the medical expenses derived from her treatments.
The actor faces this new challenge just a year after suffering a brain aneurysm, a disease that only a small percentage of patients manage to overcome alive.
"As many of you know, after miraculously surviving a brain aneurysm just a year and a half ago, our beloved Erik has been diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer," Blank writes. "He is one of the most hard-working, loving, true and devoted people we know. He needs help to see his daughter grow up, he needs to be here and he has much more art to do for the world."
The actor's wife reveals that the cancer has metastasized and has already reached the liver, but insists that at 53 years old the performer is still young to fight and try to overcome the disease.
"Erik is a survivor. We know he can get through this and continue living for years," he insists.
"Stage IV cancer is not a death sentence. Erik is determined to overcome this and is working incredibly hard to stay positive and fight for that opportunity that his doctors know he has," insists his wife, who admits that this These types of diagnoses are very discouraging to listen to, but they remain very positive.
In the United States, healthcare is private, so the family is facing massive medical costs for treatments, which are not covered by insurance. The actor's medical expenses accumulate, added to those of his expensive treatments. For this reason, the family is trying to raise $300,000 (about 285,000 euros currently at the exchange rate) to move forward. At the moment, they have already exceeded 110,000 euros, among all the donations made.
The actor is mainly known for his portrayal of Dr. Steven Edwards on The Walking Dead. However, he has also collaborated on other successful series, such as Mr. Robot, Chicago P.D. or C.S.I. Currently, he was fully dedicated to theater, with works such as The Collaboration, directed by Kwame Kwey-Armah, a success on Broadway.
