In February, California police officer Michael Tomelloso was caring for his wife, Laura Tomelloso, who had recently been diagnosed with colon cancer, according to media reports.

A few weeks after his diagnosis, Tomelloso, a veteran motor officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, observed:two swollen lymph nodes in the throat”, – reports NBC LA. He soon found out he had throat cancer.

The couple was diagnosed stage 4 cancer in the same monthaccording to a press release shared on Twitter by the Los Angeles Central Traffic Department on Nov. 21.

“Not one person, but two people go through that is pretty much the lottery,” LAPD Officer Bryce Verna told ABC 7 .

Because the couple, who have boys ages 10 and 14, were too modest to ask for help despite the medical bills piling up, family and friends decided to step in, family friend Carrie Cellini told NBCLA.

“Mike just didn’t want people to know,” Cellini told the publication. “Finally we said, ‘Hey guys, you’re going to need this in the long run.’

The couple is hoping for the help of “friends, neighbors and church members to make life less difficult with their daily tasks and doctor’s appointments, and to make Mike Jr. and Matthew’s childhood as positive as possible,” Los Angeles police said. .

The department also set up a blue ribbon trust fund to help the family, according to the LAPD.

“Now it can’t work either, it just created a lot of difficulties,” Sgt. Jeanne Quiñones of the Los Angeles Central Traffic Division told KTLA 5.

The money will be used for “medical bills, groceries and other necessities,” the LAPD said.