In 1990, the world watched as an eight-year-old boy learned how to do laundry, go grocery shopping, decorate the house, and defeat two bumbling burglars in the hit movie Home Alone.
Credit: 20th Centiry Fox
Home Alone starred Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, the young boy whose family accidentally leaves him home alone when they go on vacation. Little do they know, the Wet Bandits are targeting empty houses in the neighborhood.
Credit: 20th Century Fox
While Kevin can handle himself more than he is given credit for, he is still a kid. And he still believes in the magic of Christmas.
During a memorable scene in the movie, Kevin visits Santa Claus, asking him to please bring his family back.
Santa was played by veteran Hollywood actor Ken Hudson Campbell.
The actor has been in Hollywood for more than three decades and has appeared in a number of hit films, including Armageddon (1998), Groundhog Day (1993), and Down Periscope (1996).
Credit: Disney/21st Century Studios
Sadly, Ken Campbell’s family recently shared that the beloved actor had been diagnosed with cancer. A tumor had grown in his mouth and was encroaching on his teeth.
He needed to have an incredibly intense and invasive surgery in order to survive. Doctors needed to remove a large portion of his jawbone and replace it with bone from his leg.
Credit: GoFundMe
His family also shared that, because of his inability to work, the Home Alone actor lost the health insurance he had through SAG-AFTRA.
His family said that, while his new insurance should cover most of the direct medical expenses, there would still be a lot of money left to be paid for things like “caregivers/skilled nursing, insurance premiums, medical equipment, transportation, dental implants, dentures,” and more.
Campbell’s family set up a GoFundMe to help with his anticipated medical costs. Fans and fellow Hollywood actors quickly rushed to the site to help Campbell in any way they could.
The Simpsons star Hank Azaria donated $1,000 and The Office star Steve Carell donated an incredible $10,000.
Credit: NBC
Campbell’s daughter said that her father has been “overwhelmed” by the generosity he has seen.
“The first day we posted it, every time he read something, he would just burst into tears,” she says of her dad. “It was the first time he really got emotional about the whole situation.
It was kind of a shock to him to feel so loved.”
“It really means the world,” Michaela tells PEOPLE. “My family’s been struggling for a long time financially.
So just having my dad’s friends come together, this is just very overwhelming and it really takes a lot of stress off of my family’s shoulders.
Credit: Michaela Campbell
Thankfully, Campbell’s cancer surgery was a success and his family is now focused on his recovery.
He is breathing on his own, but is currently unable to speak. Because of the invasive nature of his cancer, he will need speech therapy to learn how to speak. He will also need to undergo radiation five days a week
. Depending on how his recovery goes, his daughter said he may need to go into a nursing home temporarily.
