SHREVEPORT, La (KTAL/KMSS) – A financial obstacle that seemed impossible to fix for a Shreveport woman battling cancer was made possible thanks to a kind gesture.

Mrs. Cynthia Jefferson is battling stage four liver cancer and just had surgery for a pacemaker and knee replacement.

“It’s just gotten to the point where I can’t work or do anything. From there – I’ve just started going down. But I kept faith in the Lord and I gave all these problems that I’m having to him. I know he’s gonna work this out. That’s what I kept in my head and to this day he’s working it out,” Jefferson said.

Her medical advice included a hobby to help get her mind off the diagnosis.

“My doctor told me, cancer loves stress. I told him I like to sew. When he diagnosed me back in 2019 I started the 50 States Quilt and when my cancer went into remission the third year I had did all the states of the United States in the quilt. I finished it,” she said.

But while struggling with her health, a leak led to her roof collapsing into her home in the Martin Luther King community of Shreveport. It’s something she’s just had to live with because the repairs cost upwards of $10,000.

“We know she didn’t need to go through another winter with a roof like this and we wanted to help,” said Robert Graham, owner of Seegers Roofing & Remodeling.

Graham got to know Mrs. Jefferson through local contractors who knew her brother.

“We were trying to do something to help her. I have a company here in Shreveport and we’ve been blessed this year. So another company, a supply company. It’s Riverside Roofing and he offered to supply the supplies for free. I said I can do the labor for free to help Mrs. Jefferson out,” Graham said.

He and his team got to work repairing the broken ceiling for free along with rebuilding her porch so she could get in and out of her house easier.

“I cried but it was tears of joy to know someone heard my story, saw what I was going through, and came back to help me. I was overwhelmed with that,” Jefferson said.

She said she is so grateful for Graham’s kindness. “Sometimes people just need help,” he said.

She shared words of advice for others suffering from cancer.

“Don’t give up. Don’t give up. I’ve suffered four years but I couldn’t give up. But thank God for my daughter and my son and my brother. I love them dearly. Because there were many days where I wanted to throw that towel in,” Jefferson said.

Under a new roof, she is bringing back her peaceful hobby with a new hope.

“So now cancer is back and I’m going to start a new quilt. That’s what keeps me going. Keeps my mind at ease. That and praying to the Lord each day. I always tell him, I’m back!”