Woman with stage 3 cancer was unable to afford HOA bills after chemo and heavy treatment — good Samaritans stepped in
'As long as I’m around these kids, I feel alive,' Fuller remarked.
A Fairburn woman, Ayanna Fuller, was left helpless after the HOA emptied her bank account for falling behind on timely payments, according to Atlanta News First. The woman was diagnosed with stage 3 myeloma in 2022 and was undergoing chemotherapy for it, due to which she was unable to catch up on HOA payments. With bills piling up and juggling two jobs to make ends meet, her financial situation was getting worse by the day. That's when strangers came to her rescue to help pitch in and get the stress off her mind. Since she was getting another shot at life with her treatment, good Samaritans ensured she got another chance to truly live.
Myeloma is reportedly the 14th most common type of cancer, with over 12,000 estimated deaths. For Fuller, like any other patient, her treatment and survival came first, as it should. In the bargain, catching up with various bills and payments was burdensome, and eventually, she was unable to afford it. Fuller was working two jobs when she received her diagnosis. She was a bus driver for Atlanta Public Schools in the morning and for Delta Air Lines at night. The doctor gave her three years to live and also informed her that she had to give up one job. She chose to keep her job as a bus driver. “As long as I’m around these kids, I feel alive,” the woman remarked. When she received news of her diagnosis, she informed the concerned authorities that she would need deferred payments. Nevertheless, the HOA told her there were still annual dues she would have to pay, and keeping up with these became hectic.
“I said, ‘Okay, let me pay y’all at least $50 or $100 a month,’” Fuller recalled. She paid for a couple of months, but her condition got worse, and she was stuck in the hospital. When she couldn’t keep up with the annual dues, her bank account was overdrafted, and around $828.54 plus a $125 legal fee were taken from her. She felt “empty” and was lying helplessly, with no idea how to take things forward. At a time when she should have been solely focused on her health and recovery, the bills were just lining up and creating havoc with careless HOA policies. She hopped onto her last resort, a GoFundMe, and that’s where hope crept in. “I started a GoFundMe page because of them, and I had my light bills and stuff like that to get paid. I was kind of worried because I knew they could take my house,” she worried. According to Mayo Clinic, myeloma is a type of cancer that grows in the white blood cells. It tends to affect the bone marrow and spine. There are three stages of the cancer, and in the last stage, the myeloma develops quickly and requires treatment. According to the National Cancer Institute, there were over 36,000 new cases of myeloma in 2025.
Fuller’s story was aired by news channels, and an anonymous donor stepped up to clear a bill of $1,386, according to Arizona’s Family. When she started her GoFundMe, overwhelming support poured in. She set up a goal of $4,000 and shared that she was on the “verge of homelessness.” The GoFundMe now stands at $3,550, and Fuller is grateful that she no longer has to worry about her house being taken away from her. While she will still have chemo once a month for the rest of her life, she can better recover thanks to the generosity of strangers. “I love everybody — one dollar, five dollars, I still thank you. And to the guy that paid the whole thing off, thank you so much, I appreciate it,” she remarked.
More on Scoop Upworthy
Dad who took loan to send daughter to college he couldn't afford moved to tears by a holiday miracle
Strangers donate $16,000 to woman who couldn't afford life-saving surgery for her beloved dog
Share on Facebook
