PAROWAN, Utah — Jenn Sullivan is not the kind of person to seek out help, but that isn't stopping the help from coming to her through the combined power of a small Utah town and her best friend, who happens to be a reality TV star.
"It's usually me finding ways to make her laugh or feel ridiculous," shared Sullivan. "Because that's what best friends do. That's what we do."
Jenn Sullivan got to know Meri Brown around 10 years ago when they lived in Las Vegas. The nation and the world know Brown as one of the “Sister Wives” on the TLC show of the same name that chronicles a polygamist family and later their breakups.
The two left Nevada three years ago for Parowan, where Meri runs a Bed and Breakfast at a home her great-grandparents built. Last year, Jenn thought her husband, Shawn, was dealing with a pest. It was much worse.
"He had what he thought was just a mosquito bite on the back of his leg. So unfortunately, sarcoma usually starts out as just a little bump, and you think that that little bump is, you think that that little bump is just a bug bite," Jenn explained.
Sarcoma is a rare cancer of connective tissues, mostly in children and even rarer in adults.
Shawn has undergone rounds of radiation and multiple surgeries, including taking out a football-sized growth in April. Almost daily, both he and Jenn still make the hour-long trip from Parowan to St. George Regional Hospital for two hours of hyperbaric treatment.
In June, Jenn, who co-owns a Parowan bike shop, was holding a cycling competition when she found out something had happened to her 10-year-old son, John.
"Somebody comes down the street and says, 'Hey, your son's been in an accident. He's bleeding from his face," Sullivan shared. "He broke his wrist, he broke his nose, he had a significant concussion.
"Memory loss, obviously, he has no idea what happened. We still don't know what happened."
John had his last cast removed on Thursday, but the family, already dealing with the massive medical costs from Shawn's cancer, faces a new challenge.
"It really is hard sometimes when things keep piling on, and Jenn handles it like a boss," said Brown.
Jenn became kind of a big part of Meri’s Instagram feed during the popular “Friday with Friends” weekly post during the pandemic, and now they produce videos they call “Salty Birches.”
"Jenn is the person that will do for everybody else," Brown added. "And I've told her multiple times through this situation, maybe this is the lesson that she needs to learn, is to accept."
Meri already had her social media presence as an influencer to help the Sullivans. Now they say just about the entire town of Parowan is joining in, with the community holding a charity bike ride and breakfast on July 26.
While still humble, Jenn is coming to terms with the idea that sometimes it’s okay to take the help offered.
"It's not really surprising," she said through tears. "This town is... unbelievable."
