The unknowns that come with a cancer diagnosis can take a giant toll on a patient and his or her family.
That's why the Tarrant County Clubhouse of Cancer Support Community North Texas is providing families with a gift that will last well beyond their cancer journey.
When he was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer at age 41, Aaron Fletcher feared he wouldn't be there to hold his wife's hands when she needed him the most.
"I cannot think of any greater honor to push through pain and suffering to fight cancer and I'm not doing it for me, I am doing it for them," Fletcher said, referring to his wife and daughter.
Wednesday, they created a moment to last a lifetime.
They made a life cast, a three-dimensional sculpture made of plaster of paris.
The artwork is a replica of their hands, embracing each other.
Diana Gibson is the art therapist and the brainchild of Evercasting Moments.
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"As you touch that piece, as you look at it, you see the fingernails and the wrinkles and everything that is encompassed in someone's hands, which is such a symbolic connection that we have with each other," Gibson said.
The life casting is one of the many services families get at the support center.
Most of the families in battles with cancers that have spread, leave little hope, but the Fletchers' story is sweeter than most.
Immunotherapy destroyed his cancer.
"The fact that I'm still here means there's still a purpose for me here, so I am good with that," he said.
That purpose now is to fight for others who need it.
"We want to bring light to other people that this support is here and that they need to use it like we are. We want to help others that are coming on this journey cause it's not a journey you choose," Melissa Fletcher said.
The Cancer Support Community of North Texas has already life cast five families and has many more to go.
