The family of former NHL star Ron Duguay addressed pushback to the creation of a GoFundMe page after he was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. "I see so many things where people are like, 'He has millions of dollars from back in the day. I'm like, 'What are we talking about?'" Duguay's daughter Shay Thomas exclusively told Us Weekly. The 68-year-old Duguay, who played 12 seasons in the NHL from 1977 to 1989, was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2024. The hockey star's family launched the GoFundMe earlier this week to assist with the ongoing financial burden - but it didn't come without some contention. "It was definitely a fight for many months," Thomas noted. "He said, 'No, absolutely not.'" Sarah Palin Feeds Boyfriend Ron Duguay in Hospital Amid His Cancer Battle She added, "His credit card debt was going up and that's when I told him, 'Dad, just let me do this. I'm not going to put your name on there. Just let me do this. So many people have asked to help you. You need the help. You've helped people. Let them help.' ... We spoke as a family and we said, 'We need to make this GoFundMe. We gotta do everything we can. Because if we don't, it's going to kill you.'" Despite the resistance, Shay said her father has been "so grateful" for the outpouring of support since launching the GoFundMe. "You can hear it in his voice. I can feel the relief," she shared. "He had nothing left. It was at that point." Before organizing the fundraiser, Thomas said her father had been doing his best to figure out how to pay for everything himself, even after being diagnosed. Courtesy of Ron Duguay/Instagram "He's gotten better at different times and he's done what he could do," she explained. "He'll go and do little events here and there. He'll try to utilize the flights that he's getting paid to go places to fly back to Orange County [for treatment]. He's really done his best to navigate how to get these treatments and how to make money." Ultimately, it all just became too much. "He does not like asking for help, even when I have to ask him about his finances," Thomas said. "I can tell when he's stressed out. I know he hasn't been able to work," she said. "He was able to work comfortably before he got sick and he was able to provide for himself. He was fine. But once he was sick, he couldn't even walk. He could barely eat. It was so bad. He wasn't able to work." Thomas addressed misconceptions about GoFundMe campaigns for people like her father, which have also come under recent scrutiny after fundraisers were launched for the families of late actors James Van Der Beek and Eric Dane after their respective deaths. "I've seen people with these comments of judgment and I don't even understand that," she said. "If you don't want to do something, then don't do it. I've donated to GoFundMes when I've been in a position to help people. I don't know them, but you feel God's calling you to help someone and that's on your heart. If you're in a position where you can do that, that's on you. No one's forcing you to do anything." Shay continued, "I never understand some of these people with these crazy opinions. Most people don't make them unless they need to. Who wants to have an illness where you have this financial strain? You're desperate, in a sense, and that's where we're at." James Van Der Beek's Wife Shares GoFundMe as Family Is 'Out of Funds' Looking ahead, Shay said her father's cancer numbers recently "went back up," which has led to them getting proactive. "He's realizing he has to fight this more aggressively with all the holistic approaches," she explained. "This has been such an up-and-down road, now we're looking at facilities outside of the United States. Those are obviously pricey." She continued, "That's been the most frustrating with all of this. A lot of the time when my dad feels like he's at the end of the road, it comes back. That's happened three times now." At the time of publication, Duguay's GoFundMe page had raised over $98,000.