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A Chicago-based activist whose violence-prevention work was featured in a critically acclaimed documentary has been diagnosed with cancer.

Friends have started a fundraiser campaign in hopes of raising money for Ameena Matthews’ treatment. 

From Chicago Tribune:

Ameena Matthews, one of three outreach workers profiled in the 2011 film “The Interrupters,” was diagnosed in January with multiple myeloma, she said in an interview this week. She told her family and closest friends at the time but managed to keep the news private until last weekend, when five friends launched a Web page where supporters can help pay treatment costs.

“They said if I was going to be mad at one, I’d have to be mad at all of them,” Matthews said.

Read more at Chicago Tribune

Matthews waits to learn if she’ll receive a bone-marrow transplant, which doctors say she needs within 15 days. As of Monday, the fundraising page had raised more than $37,000. The goal is $75,000.

Click here to donate. Ameena we wish you a speedy recovery.

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