WAWOTA - A Wawota family travelled to Toronto over the Mother’s Day weekend to take part in Meagan’s Hug, a five-kilometre walk-a-thon.
This was the 22nd annual walk for the event and the 10th year that Kelton Ford, his mom Rochelle Friesen and his sister Zoey Friesen attended.
Ford’s sister Cienna was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) in October 2011.
Cienna began having trouble with her speech, and would stumble while walking, so she was taken to the doctors.
Cienna was seven years old and the doctors at the Pasqua Hospital in Regina felt it was a low-grade tumour that could be treated. The family were sent to the Sick Kids’ Hospital in Toronto.
“The doctor’s exact words were, it is much more sinister than you were led to believe,” said Ford.
This kind of tumour is difficult to operate on and the outcome is usually not a good one. Cienna passed away at the age of eight in September 2012.
Meagan’s Hug was created by the family of a five-year-old girl who also passed away from DIPG.
Ford’s family, including aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins, would begin to attend this event annually.
An event is also held in Wawota called Cienna’s Rocking Runners, which took place on May 6, to raise awareness of DIPG.
Ford said Cienna loved music and enjoyed dancing, so in her honour they had singing and art at the event. People perform songs, an online auction is held and a silent auction takes place the evening of the event.
This year they raised over $20,000 for pediatric brain tumour research.
When Cienna was ill, radiation treatment was the only option.
“This gave our family time to make some great memories,” said Ford.
They did as many things possible, including taking a family trip to Disney World.
Now in their 10th year attending the walk-a-thon, they recognize many faces from over the years.
People now come from all over the world and the furthest place this year was Europe.
The walk began at Fort York National Historic site and wrapped up at the Sick Kid’s Hospital. Everyone holds hands and circles the hospital, as the sick children look out the windows. This is called the world’s largest hug and they easily made it around the hospital with the number of people that attended.
At the end, doctors came out and spoke about the latest developments in their research, and they had a breakthrough this year.
The doctors had just treated their first patient with chemotherapy. This treatment was not an option for Cienna.
According to Ford, this is an amazing breakthrough.
