'Home Alone' Star Undergoes Surgery for Cancer After Crowdfunding

"Home Alone" actor Ken Hudson Campbell was able to undergo surgery to remove a cancerous tumor thanks to support garnered through crowdfunding after his SAG-AFTRA-funded health insurance ended earlier this year.

Hudson, 61, was diagnosed with cell carcinoma, a common form of oral cancer, in October. Months prior, the actor, who famously played Santa Claus in the 1990 holiday classic, had undergone procedures to remove areas of abnormal skin tissue.

Around the same time, he lost his health insurance, and "had to stop going to the same doctors that he had been going to for a while about his mouth," his daughter Michaela told People.

"The last two years he’s gotten lots of biopsies done and they’ve tried to control it," she explained. "And it was only this year that it just got very, very aggressive. So when he got his biopsy in October, that is when we got the diagnosis."

Campbell was slated for surgery to remove the tumor on Dec. 7. One week before the scheduled procedure, Michaela launched a GoFundMe campaign aiming to raise $100,000.

The funds were intended to cover the expenses associated with the extensive 10-hour surgery, a six-month recovery period, and any chemotherapy required thereafter.

"The first day we posted it, every time he read something, he would just burst into tears," she said of Campbell. "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."

With the help of donations from friends, family, and fans, including "The Office" star Steve Carrell, the campaign surpassed its goal, raising over $110,500 as of Wednesday morning.

"It really means the world," Michaela said. "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."

Commenting on her father's recovery, Michaela said that "the hardest part of this is going to be him losing his speech and his ability to talk. So speech therapy is going to play a big role in it."

"We’re kind of playing it one step at a time, depending on how debilitated he is," she said. "If he needs extra help, we might put him into a nursing home for a little while, but if not, we’re going to take him back home and we still will be hiring post-op care help with that."