Joe Wurzelbacher, famously known as “Joe the Plumber” in the late 2000s, has announced he was diagnosed with Stage 3 Pancreatic cancer and a fundraiser has been started to help him pay for cancer treatments.
Wurzelbacher became instantly famous when he confronted Barack Obama over his lies about taxes during the 2008 presidential campaign. Known as Joe the Plumber, he became one of the early conservative super stars on the Internet and was feted at events such as the Conservative Political Action Conference and other conservative events.
The Ohio resident’s star power had dimmed, though, and not much has been heard from him for the last few years once Obama left the scene.
But now the former media star has announced that he undergoing cancer treatment at the Ann Arbor VA Hospital and the University of Michigan Hospital, according to a GiveSenGo page set up to help raise money for his medical treatment.
Remember Joe the Plumber and how the media tried to destroy him for simply asking Obama a question? They failed. Now cancer is trying. It will fail too, but he and his family could use your help. Check it out. https://t.co/oFczc0urX2
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) March 22, 2023
“Joe had been having stomach issues for about 3 months, which eventually became painful. On December 26th, he’d had enough of the pain and we went to the VA emergency room in Ann Arbor,” Wurzelbacher’s wife, Katie, explained. “They ran tests and performed scans which showed a mass in the head of his pancreas. The mass was restricting one of his biliary ducts, so they classified it as Stage 3 cancer. They also found that his SMV had a large blood clot. His current treatment plan is 6 months of Folfirinox chemotherapy and surgery to remove half of his pancreas and reconstruct the vein with the clot.”
Wurzelbacher is an Air Force veteran who later became a plumber in Toledo, Ohio, where he became the toast of conservatism during Obama’s 2008 campaign. He later he ran and lost to Democratic Rep. Macy Kaptur. He also dabbled in hosting a news aggregator site and tried other conservative activism, but soon faded from the scene.
“As a community of friends, we have set up this Medical Campaign to support Joe and Katie during these months when Joe is not able to work,” the fundraiser reads. “We are hoping to raise funds for monthly expenses and are asking for the incredible blessing of helping secure funds and volunteer skill workers to help finish their basement for Joe’s dad. From Joe, Katie and all their family and friends, Thank you so much!’”
As of press time, the fundraiser had brought in more than $14,000.
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