Claire's story (per Mandy)

Six days before our baby girls first birthday we heard the words that no parents should ever have to hear. Claire had been sick for months and eventually blood work trying to rule out infections ended in an urgent phone call telling us to get to the hospital and fast! A team of doctors and nurses were waiting and rushed us to a room to get Claire prepped for transport to children's hospital in London and to tell me that they were afraid my child had cancer. I'm pretty sure my soul left my body in that moment

That was the start of our first 6 week stay in children's hospital. February 26, 2020 it was confirmed that our little girl had infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with a gene mutation that made her high risk for relapse. Luck along with the well wishes/prayers trom our entire community and support from all over Canada and the USA brought her to remission after the first phase of chemotherapy. Claire's treatment plan and chemotherapy would continue on for 2½ years. We had several long stays in hospital and the majority in the middle of the pandemic with restricted access to visitors including Claire's 2 brothers and my husband. We thought we were onto smooth sailing as Claire neared completion of her treatment however cancer had other plans. Claire's leukemia was so strong that it came back while she was still receiving chemotherapy. Once again Claire was in need of a life saving bone marrow transplant at sick kids hospital in Toronto and it turned out her big brother who would soon be turning 5 was her perfect match. We explained the process as best we could and he didn't even hesitate. Clayton told us that he wanted to save his sister and that's exactly what he did. Claire handled transplant without complications. At the 100 day mark we got the incredible news the transplant was a success. Claytons cells had taken over and even changed Claire's blood type. But once again the disease had hidden itself in the most unlikely of places. Claire developed a lump on her head without any trauma. It looked like she had been hit by something but it never went away. A broken central line landed her in hospital needing surgery to remove it. Her doctor decided to biopsy the lump and once again we were told your child has cancer. We were running out of options and our tiny little hero wasn't even three years old. In a last stitch effort to save Claire's life we once again packed up and moved into sick kids hospital in Toronto for a relatively new treatment option, carT cell therapy. Her T cells were harvested and genetically modified to be cancer fighting cells then given back to her. These new "cars" as we call them are designed to take her B cells and destroy them as those are the cells that carry her cancer. Her carT treatment was a success but left Claire without an immune system. She receives an infusion once a week of immunoglobulin to help fight off illness and infection. A small price to pay to have her with us today as a happy, healthy and thriving 5 year old.

It has been an incredibly difficult journey for us all but especially for Claire. She has been sedated more times than I can count for various surgeries and procedures, has had more than 75 blood and product transfusions, 2 stays in the pediatric intensive care unit, months at a time spent away from her family, countless complications and infections caused by the medicine that was meant to keep her alive. A fungal infection that caused part of her cheek to be removed and has lived through some of my worst nightmares. While the fear of relapse still taunts us, its voice has become more of a whisper than a scream. We still have frequent checkups with the oncology team and yearly testing for long term damage to her organs due to the toxic chemo. She is at high risk of developing tumor type cancers later in life and still her leukemia could return

Our little girl has so much life to live and I truly believe this path was put in front of us for a reason

🌟 Thanks Valerie and Michelle 🌟

You are the best! 🥇🥇

Warming up to the big challenge

First donation received. It's never too early or too late to donate 🤜🏽🤛🏽