The parents of a teenager battling cancer are struggling to keep up with bills amid rising inflation rates, sometimes taking out short-term loans to pay for gas to drive to her appointments.
Keith and Analiza Vincent said the family now spends over $200 a week on gas to shuttle daughter Jinger Vincent, 15, from their home in rural Indiana to chemotherapy, surgeries, appointments, and physical therapy, which can be more than an hour away.
INFLATION RISES TO 11.3% IN PRODUCER INDEX FOR JUNE, NEAR HIGHEST ON RECORD
“Let’s pay the mortgage first. Let’s pay the majority of the bills, but at the end of the day, I said, ‘Wait a minute. We do not have money for gas,'” Analiza Vincent told CBS News. “So I end up like going through instant cash. That’s our best friend right now.”
Instant cash loans are short-term, high-interest loans.
The parents said they also cut back on groceries and other expenses since their daughter’s diagnosis a year ago. Jinger Vincent, a lifelong athlete before her diagnosis, said it was stressful seeing her parents struggle with bills.
“Having to watch them, ‘We have to pay this bill. We have to pay that.’ And I’m downstairs and I hear all of that. It just seems so stressful, and I feel bad for them,” she said.
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The national average price of gas is $4.58 per gallon as of Friday, according to AAA.
“We’re not worried about [it], even though we can’t afford certain things. The big picture is her,” Analiza Vincent said.
