A Pemberton woman and her family are appealing to the community to help cover the costs of a cancer treatment that was showing positive results before she became ineligible for the patented drug.
Karen Ollier moved from the United Kingdom to B.C. in 2010 with her husband Nic. She was diagnosed in late 2021 with a rare form of breast cancer. At the time, her son, Felix, was only 18 months old.
“From the beginning, I had a very rare type of breast cancer, which is called metaplastic,” Ollier said in an interview. “It’s one per cent of all breast cancers.”
The rarity of her case has complicated her treatment. She had two types of cancer concurrently: one was more straightforwardly treatable; the other, metaplastic, was rare and complex. The two types required opposite drug approaches.
Breast cancers are classified according to hormone receptors, which determine what drug therapies are effective. Initially treated as HER2-positive in 2021, Ollier underwent chemotherapy and a double mastectomy. Although surgery removed her tumour, “there was no evidence that any of the chemotherapy or targeted therapies that they used on me worked,” she explained.
She remained in remission for more than two years. But in late 2024, the cancer returned in her lymph nodes and skin near the breast tissue.
In early 2025, Ollier began a combination of chemotherapy and a new immunotherapy drug called pembrolizumab. The treatment showed significant success, shrinking the cancer before surgery.
“It was working,” she recalled. “And that’s the first time that that has been the case for me.”
But after surgery, despite the positive results, Ollier’s access to pembrolizumab was later denied. In Canada, the drug is approved for triple-negative breast cancer—a type that lacks the three most common receptors that fuel cancer growth—but Ollier’s diagnosis doesn’t fit that category.
“Even though it’s working, the immunotherapy would not be eligible for my type of cancer,” she explained.
Ollier’s team recommended she continue with 13 more doses of pembrolizumab following surgery. But each dose of the patented drug costs $10,000, and appeals from her team for coverage—supported by a board of oncologists at the BC Cancer Foundation—were rejected.
So, her family launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking $130,000 to cover the cost.
“We cannot let [Karen and her family] be a victim of the system when a positive end to their story is in sight,” wrote Ollier’s mother- and sister-in-law on the GoFundMe page.
More than $100k raised in a month
The campaign has drawn significant support, raising nearly its full goal within two weeks of launching.
“It’s totally blown us away,” Ollier said. “It was a pretty big step to put it out there, but it doesn’t just come with the generosity of people donating money. It’s the outpouring of love from the community, too.”
She said messages have come from old friends, neighbours and people who had not known about her illness until the fundraiser went public.
“Those messages coming through from the people you used to be close to…” she said, trailing off. “It’s been emotional, but it’s been an incredibly uplifting thing to do.”
Ollier resumed immunotherapy on Aug. 7 with her fifth dose, after a three-month gap following surgery. She has also recently completed 15 radiotherapy sessions over three weeks in Vancouver. The travel time from Pemberton to the city drove Ollier to relocate to Squamish—away from her family—during the treatment.
Ollier said her parents had covered the cost of her initial doses and she hopes to repay them if donations exceed the campaign’s target.
For Ollier, the motivation is clear.
“My son, my family,” she said. “I have a five-year-old, and he was two when I was first diagnosed. He and my husband are the main motivation here. We moved here for a reason. We have so much to live for. We live on a farm here in Pemberton. We’re planting out apple trees—we have about 700 apple trees planted. We have big plans for this place.”
The couple calls their property Hand-in-Hand Farm, where they recently hosted a wedding and are planning for a future cidery.
“It would be good to be able to see it through,” she said.
Ollier offered advice for others facing rare cancers or treatment barriers.
“It all starts with your team. You really need to have the oncologists and the surgeons and everyone that’s there helping you through this,” she said. “Especially when it comes to rare cancers, there’s been a lot of creative thinking from my team in how best to treat me. GoFundMe for us was our last resort. We exhausted all other options.”
For now, she says she feels fortunate to have the support of family, friends and the community.
“To know that we are going to get the full 13 is really fantastic,” Ollier said. “We feel incredibly lucky to be surrounded by such an amazing community.”
Fundraiser at Mile One
Friends of the family are hosting an in-person fundraiser for Ollier on Sept. 18 at Mile One Eating House.
“Even though the GoFundMe has a $100,000 goal, the financial burden of ongoing medical treatments, lost wages, childcare costs etc, won’t simply disappear once that target is met,” Karen’s friend Laura Joce explained in an email to Pique. “Continued donations are deeply appreciated and will still make a significant impact.”
The event, running from 5 to 9 p.m., revolves around a raffle. Prizes have been donated from a wide range of local businesses, including Whistler Bungee, Stay Wild Natural Health, Wild Havens Glamping, Whistler Escape Rooms, Scandinave Spa and more.
“There will also be live music, and Mile One will generously donate $1 from every in-house and takeout meal purchased during the event,” Joce wrote. “The outpouring of generosity and kindness from the Pemberton and Whistler businesses we have reached out to, has been amazing.
