Cancer Survivor Celebrates Birthday by Covering Patients' Parking Fees

On August 13, 2025, Krystyna Locke, a 63-year-old lymphoma survivor from London, Ontario, celebrated her birthday in a unique way. Instead of a traditional celebration, Locke spent the day at the cancer clinic of the London Health Sciences Centre, providing free parking to patients visiting the facility.

Locke has been a regular at the cancer clinic for over two decades, having been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2004. She understands the financial strain that can come with the associated non-medical costs of cancer treatment, including parking fees. Over the past year, Locke has been fundraising to cover these expenses for other patients, collecting empty bottles and teaming up with the hospital to create a donation page.

On her birthday, Locke set up near the clinic's entrance with a stack of parking vouchers and a banner that read: "Happy birthday to me. Your parking is free." The gesture was warmly received by the patients, who Locke says were "walking very heavy" with the burden of their treatments. As they saw Locke's sign, their faces lit up with big smiles, and they expressed their gratitude for the unexpected relief.

Locke was able to cover the parking fees for roughly 300 patients on her birthday, a gift that she says brought her as much joy as it did to the recipients. "They brought me as much joy as I was bringing to them, because I know how they're feeling at that moment when they're walking into the clinic," she shared. Locke plans to return next summer to celebrate her 64th birthday in the same way, continuing her efforts to ease the financial strain on cancer patients.