Fundraiser seeks to support Peggs' ex-wife in cancer battle

Jan. 27—ALTOONA — Friends, family members and strangers once again are stepping up to support a community member who has endured unimaginable pain in the past two years and now faces a personal health crisis.

Just days after her ex-husband, former Altoona schools superintendent Dan Peggs, was sentenced Dec. 2 in federal court to eight years in prison for possession of child pornography, Ashley Peggs learned that she needed further medical tests due to past abnormal Pap smears and then was diagnosed with Stage 1 cervical cancer.

She had surgery after Christmas to remove as much of the cancer as possible and reported that the worst part of the recovery was explaining to her 2-year-old daughter why her mommy couldn't pick her up. Further review prompted doctors at UW Health in Madison last week to diagnose Ashley, 34, with Stage 3 cervical cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. She expects to begin chemotherapy and radiation treatments in the coming days.

"It's been a whirlwind, that's for sure," Ashley said Wednesday in an interview. "I was thinking the sentencing would bring us some closure, but now we're back to a lot of unknowns."

Complicating matters and delaying the start of her treatment, Ashley and three of her four daughters recently contracted COVID-19 and have been isolating in their Altoona home. They are all on the road to recovery and hoping the other daughter continues to avoid the virus.

"There are definitely those times when I feel like what more can be thrown at me," Ashley said. "I know I'm going to be tested to the limit."

The upcoming challenge began two years ago when Ashley's abnormal Pap smear detected human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labels the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. Ashley said her HPV can only have come from Dan Peggs' lifestyle choices.

In the trial, the defense team asserted that Dan Peggs was a "serial philanderer" who in order to have sex with a 17-year-old girl victim, whom he believed was 19, was forced to invite other men and record them having sex with her. Prosecutors alleged Dan Peggs had a history of participating in group sex with other women in the same 2015-16 time period.

Helping hands

With the looming cancer battle, a few of her close friends were confident community members would want to help again after many people pitched in with meals, child care and financial donations in the weeks after Dan Peggs was arrested in February 2020 and initially charged with sex trafficking of a minor and making child pornography.

Brooke Kaldor, Laura Trachsel and Paige Parsons launched a GoFundMe fundraiser for Ashley and the girls on Saturday. By Wednesday afternoon, the fund already had collected more than $35,000 toward its goal of $50,000 to help the family pay for medical and living expenses.

The organizers are blown away by the response.

"People like to help, and everyone knows none of this is fair to her," Kaldor said. "Clearly, Ashley's story has touched a lot of hearts."

Friends also once again are organizing help with meals, childcare, laundry and other tasks to help Ashley, a suddenly single woman who gave up her teaching career to be a stay-at-home mom when her ex-husband was still a school district official. Kaldor noted that the family went from having private health insurance to using BadgerCare after Dan Peggs was fired following his arrest.

"The community has really taken this family under their wing," Kaldor said. "I'm super proud of this community for how people have come together to help someone in need. It's heartwarming."

Ashley is touched and grateful for the support.

"It's huge. It makes you feel like you're not alone, like we're not going to have to weather this storm alone," she said. "You've got a village of people who can pick you up when you feel like you can't go any further."

While Ashley acknowledged the past two years have been extraordinarily difficult, she strives to maintain a positive attitude for her kids and herself.

"Like everything else the last two years, I kind of just live day to day and take it as it comes," Ashley said.

Tough road ahead

Looking ahead, she faces four weeks of daily radiation treatments along with one four-hour chemo treatment per week. That will be followed by four six-hour sessions of internal radiation in Madison over three weeks.

Doctors have told her the treatments likely will leave her feeling exhausted and possibly nauseous.

Without revealing too many details, Ashley has tried to prepare her daughters — Ari, 9, Emery, 7, Iylah, 5, and Nova, 2 — by explaining that she may have to be gone occasionally and probably won't be able to do all of the things she usually does for a while.

Sadly, such difficult conversations have become all too common for the family. After Dan Peggs' arrest, Ashley tried to explain to the girls that decisions have consequences, that their daddy made some bad choices and that a judge would determine the consequences, which might involve a very long timeout.

Now that Dan Peggs is in prison, it has been a relief for the girls to no longer be required to do half-hour weekly video chats with him, Ashley said, calling the sessions traumatic for her daughters and suggesting they now can focus on moving forward with their lives.

Through it all, Ashley is thankful her children have remained resilient, strong and happy.

Ashley, who filed for divorce weeks after her ex-husband's arrest, and her daughters have been using her maiden name, Lien, for a while but haven't legally changed their last names yet. Ashley said the courts wouldn't allow her to change the kids' names without consent of the father, who refused, and she didn't want to change her name ahead of the children.

She is working with state Rep. Jesse James, R-Altoona, on a bill that would allow a parent to change a child's last name without the other parent's consent if the other parent is convicted of certain heinous crimes.

Kaldor said she finds Ashley to be inspiring.

"It's been like one thing after another for her, and yet she's still such a warm and positive person," Kaldor said. "She's an amazing mom."

Despite all she's been through and the challenges that lie ahead, Ashley still hopes to pull something positive from her experiences that could serve as a survival guide for others facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.

"When things settle down, I may try to write a book to see if I can give some guidance to other people walking their own paths," she said.

For now, though, she is ready to take on her next challenge one treatment at a time.