Friends For Life
An East Kootenay family’s personal connection to Friends Of Children
One could say the long trips between Creston and Calgary were nothing compared to the long road to recovery for a little boy fighting cancer, but it’s not exactly true. Those car treks, prolonged stays in hospital, and round after round of treatment added up. There was both time off work and time on the highway to account for. Little Garrett fought hard and made it through. With some help from the Friends Of Children Society, and a lot of community support, Garrett’s family also got through those trying times.
“It was a very, very difficult time for all of us,” said Garrett’s grandmother, Lorraine, a retired nurse who understood all too well the challenges the little two-year-old was about to embark on, when an alarming tummy ache was quickly diagnosed as Stage 3 neuroblastoma requiring an airlift to emergency specialists, then many months in a row of challenging treatments.
That was 10 years ago, and Garrett is a happy-go-lucky kid with his whole life still ahead of him. But at the time, when the local doctor made the wise, fateful decision to give the small child an ultrasound and discovered the aggressive and rare form of cancer, the whole situation looked bleak.
“It was a whole other world,” being on the inside of a healthcare crisis, said Lorraine, despite her professional familiarity with the processes. While Garrett’s mom immediately dropped her own professional duties to attend to the stricken boy, Lorraine and grandpa Lawrence took on many of the administrative duties to get the whole family through.
It didn’t take long for someone to tell them about Friends Of Children, and she said it was like the clouds of financial stress parted. There were still many storms to face, but the organization stepped in almost as fast as the healthcare system itself, she said.
“It was a wonderful relationship. Pat Chisholm and Sheila Hall (their Friends Of Children staff contacts) would listen to my stories. They stepped right up to the plate and took care of travel and accommodation and food, which relieved a lot of the burden.”
Not only were bills paid quickly, on the behalf of Garrett’s family, but the society even helped them plan out ways to have financial burdens removed that Lorraine and Lawrence hadn’t even thought of, yet, but through the staff’s past experiences they could provide that advice.
“I couldn’t say enough things about Friends Of Children for the important part they played for us,” Lorraine said. “They work so hard at what they do, and the kids come first. They were so helpful for us, just with a phone call. The beauty of it is, they will step in for a child from the time they are born until they no longer need the help. Anything remotely needed, for a child, they would see what they could do. So, we are happy to help them with anything we can, in return.”
Even though “we have this little boy, now, who is so full of spit and vinegar and love and care,” Garrett’s family has not forgotten Friends Of Children. They are still involved to this day with fundraising for the society and awareness for what they do.
Garrett, cancer survivor and benefactor of Friends Of Children financial support during treatments.