How friendship and burgers bring comfort to this St. John's woman as she fights cancer

Four years ago, like everyone else in the midst of "unprecedented times," Andrea Edwards faced a change in routine. 

She was starting a new job when she noticed she couldn't comprehend things like she used to. She had pain in her stomach, too.

And although, she says, her memory is foggy, Edwards clearly recalls the day she discovered the origin of her troubles. It was the weekend before Remembrance Day in 2020. 

It was cancer — Stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"Cancer during COVID changed everything," said Edwards in an interview with CBC News. "It was the best and worst time to have it."

People were understanding of the severity of her diagnosis, she said, especially with a pandemic looming. But, she said, her resources were cut significantly. Edwards is a single mom of two young adults, with no other family near her St. John's home.

Her eldest daughter, Darcie Edwards, said the diagnosis was difficult to navigate.

"It was definitely uncharted territory," she said. "I'd never dealt with anything like that, even with a friend."

Then came Heather Mullins, and her husband Len. 

Helping hands

The Edwards family has known the Mullins for years, since their children grew up in school together. 

When she found out about Andrea's cancer, she texted Darcie, asking what the family would like to eat that evening.

WATCH | Surprise food deliveries have changed a single mom's perception of cancer treatment days:

Food and friendship are guiding this woman through chemotherapy

17 days ago

Duration 3:14

When Andrea Edwards was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, her resources were already thinning. So, a friend stepped in to help her family with meals — unannounced. Maddie Ryan spoke to her for our Make the Season Kind series.

"Burgers and fries is something simple," Darcie Edwards said. "We never expected something like that."

So, they were delivered straight to the Edwards' door.

It was a nice surprise on a hard day. With her cancer-induced confusion, Andrea Edwards says she didn't quite understand what her friend was doing. But the meals kept coming, from a different restaurant every time, on every day she had a chemotherapy appointment.

"It changed my perception of that day," she said. "It meant that we'd be taken care of."

It was one less thing to worry about. It brought the family together when Edwards had to go to her appointments alone during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

'If you can do something nice, why not?'

It was a no-brainer, Mullins said, to help Andrea and her family. After all, they were "outsiders" together, as she puts it, who moved to the same place at the same time.

When her own mother was going through cancer, Mullins says she remembers people would routinely bring her meals. So, it was only natural to do the same when she had the chance to help, she said.

"If you can do something nice, why not?" she said.

Meals were delivered every three weeks for six months until Andrea Edwards completed her treatment. When it was time for the last round of chemotherapy, Mullins asked if the family wanted something special to celebrate.

"[Darcie] said 'No, we're kind of stuck on the burgers,'" Mullins told CBC, laughing. 

Andrea Edwards says she was reminded that even through so much pain, there are still people, like Heather and Len Mullins, who care. The generosity has also had a profound impact on Darcie Edwards, who says dealing with her mother's cancer felt like something that was never going to end. 

"I couldn't really see what life would be like afterwards. But once things do change, you do move forward," she said.

Make the Season Kind 

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