Dennis Bovell | Broward Palm Beach Post |
“Ted Koran and his wife, Karen, have been taking in unwanted or neglected animals for the past 25 years. The couple owns The Critter Place in Weeki Wachee,Florida, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to saving animals. The two acre property, which also includes their mobile home, currently cares for 68 animals.
“We started out with one horse,” said Koran, 57. “The neighbor kept her on a tether rope, so we bought her from them. Unfortunately, she passed not too long ago.”
In a cruel twist of fate, the couple that has saved countless animals over the years is now in need of saving themselves. Life has hit the Korans hard the last few years, and may have delivered the knockout blow this past week.
On July 30th, Karen, 60, was diagnosed with stage 3c ovarian cancer. This will mark her second experience with the life-threatening disease, as she had surgery last year to remove her ovaries. At this stage, the cancer has either spread to the lymph nodes or been detected in the abdomen. Possibly both.
“The doctors noticed a little bit had migrated outside of the ovaries the first time,” explained Ted. “They thought it was so minut that chemo would get it, but apparently it didn’t. Now she’s in the early stages of recurrence.”
Unfortunately for the Korans, they were’t allotted much time to deal with the cancer issue before taking another left hook. The very next day, July 31st, the couple received a foreclosure notice. With no job and a wife battling cancer, Ted fears he’s going to lose everything — his wife, his property and his animals.”