After 50 Years, Woman Stands by Best Friend Through Daily Breast Cancer Treatments
Some friendships are rare. And then there’s Diana and Candace—best friends for nearly 50 years who are proving that true friendship isn’t just for the good times, but for the hardest battles life can throw at you.
Diana and Candace met in college in 1977 and have been inseparable ever since. So when Candace was diagnosed with breast cancer, Diana made a promise she has kept every single day: “You’re not going anywhere without me being with you,” her husband Kevin shared in a GoFundMe campaign supporting Candace’s treatment.
Their extraordinary bond captured hearts in a viral video shared in March by BestiesNYC. In it the pair describe how they met and how they are facing Candace’s cancer together.
Kevin described the grueling road Candace faces: a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation five days a week, immunotherapy, and now hair loss—a devastating blow for someone who has already spent a lifetime facing challenges with very few resources. Candace relies on public housing, government assistance, food stamps, and Medicare.
“She is fighting the hardest battle of her life with almost nothing in her pockets,” Kevin said.
But through it all, Diana is steadfast. Having watched her own mother battle cancer, she knows the exhaustion, the fear, and the small victories that come along the way. She shows up for every chemo treatment, every hospital visit, every moment her friend needs her.
“Our goal is simple: we want Candace to be comfortable,” Kevin said. “A safe, warm home where she can rest and heal — not public housing, not a waiting room, not a system that treats her like a number. We want her to have choices. To live with dignity. And to keep this friendship — this rare, extraordinary friendship — alive for as long as possible.”
Even in the midst of treatment, Diana and Candace are holding onto the traditions that have carried them through decades. Each year, they make their annual trip to Barbados—staying with Diana’s family, swimming in the ocean, laughing at monkeys, and watching sea turtles. It is their ritual, their joy, the thing that slows the world down when everything else feels overwhelming.
Thanks to the viral video, airlines, tourism companies, and hotels have offered to help make their annual vacation possible this year, and the GoFundMe campaign is helping cover Candace’s treatment, better housing, and future adventures together.
This is a story of unwavering friendship, loyalty, and the extraordinary lengths one best friend will go to ensure the other never faces life’s hardest moments alone.
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