New App Helps Cancer Patients & Survivors Connect With Each Other For Support

Battling cancer is a very scary time in one’s life that can make them feel alone and isolated. Having support during this time is crucial, especially support from someone who has gone through the same experience.

That’s why Christina Merrill, the founder and CEO of the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation, came up with the idea for CancerBuddy, an app that connects cancer patients with other patients, survivors and caregivers.

Merrill was on a dating app and thought about how easy it was to match people. That’s what gave her the push to create something similar for the cancer community so that people could find much-needed support.

Ethan Zohn, ‘Survivor’ season 3 winner who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, can vouch for Merrill’s claim that support is crucial.

He told Inside Edition that when he first received his cancer diagnosis, he was “incredibly scared, frustrated, confused and I thought I was going to die.”

All he wanted was to connect with other people who were going through a similar thing, but it was hard to do that.

Zohn is now an ambassador of CancerBuddy, which makes connecting with others easy.

The app connects you with others based on your likes, your geographical location, your cancer diagnosis, and other interests.

“Due to HIPPA rules, if you’re sitting in a hospital going through cancer and there’s someone down the hall you could connect with, the nurses can’t tell you, so an app like CancerBuddy can connect you…that’s, like, huge!” Zohn said.

Learn more about CancerBuddy in the video below: