OCEAN VIEW – Kaylin Morrissey got to know Julie Wolfe as a child care provider, then as a friend, then as the woman who provided care for her husband before, during, and after he went through a double lung transplant.
Now, Wolfe needs care of her own as she battles stage 4 colon cancer.
According to Morrissey, she learned through their friendship that Wolfe was a lifelong Cape May County resident, who lived in Lower Township before moving to Dennis Township.
“I know her as a naturally nurturing caregiver who cared for so many children in the county – probably hundreds of kids,” Morrissey said.
Morrissey then described Wolfe’s current situation as “really tragic.”
“Julie was not feeling well a couple of months ago – early 2023 – after the holidays. Then they found out she had stage 4 colon cancer with metastases,” Morrissey said.
This comes after her husband, Chris Wolfe, started showing signs of being sick in 2020. Chris Wolfe, Morrissey said, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that destroyed his lungs.
Chris worked as a network maintenance technician for Comcast but had to permanently leave his job in spring 2022 due to his health struggles.
Morrissey said he was continuously on oxygen until his transplant in August 2022. He was weaned off a ventilator and went through rehab, but then had a setback because of a cold.
He came home from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania about six weeks ago. Morrissey said he ended up going back to that hospital recently.
When Julie Wolfe was diagnosed with cancer, her husband was in the hospital recovering from a double lung transplant.
“She didn’t know she had cancer last summer,” Morrissey said. “Now, they are both in the hospital.”
Morrissey said she knew Julie Wolfe before her diagnosis as someone vibrant and energetic, in her early 50s, and who holds a black belt in karate, active with American Martial Arts Academy in Ocean View.
She was self-employed as long as Morrissey knew her, and she became the sole breadwinner when her husband, who is in his mid-50s, became too sick to work.
“He couldn’t even do another (different) job,” Morrissey said.
Morrissey said the Wolfes have two sons, the oldest, Christian, 21, lives at home and works. He has been helping around the house, including taking care of his 12-year-old brother.
Morrissey said the Wolfes have a lot of friends to help, but some expenses continue to grow and neither Chris Wolfe nor Julie Wolfe can work. Morrissey said the only thing she knew to do was establish a GoFundMe page for the Wolfes.
“(Julie) is a giver and has a hard time receiving, but when I asked permission to do GoFundMe, she said OK because she has had a setback,” Morrissey said.
Morrissey set the goal amount to be raised at $100,000 thinking she could help them pay off their mortgage, knowing that amount is really a drop in the bucket in terms of the potential medical bills.
Within 24 hours, the account raised $5,000. A week later, the figure raised was $7,210. The GoFundMe link for the Wolfes is https://gofund.me/4766f551.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
