Every year, Dairy Queen dedicates one day towards their Miracle Treat Day, in which 100 per cent of the proceeds from Blizzards sold that day go towards helping the Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Thursday, Aug. 13 was that day this year, and the North Battleford Dairy Queen had a little girl who was part of their program assisting them.
Ten-year-old Lily was behind the counter helping workers serve Blizzards to those looking to help kids like Lily, while satisfying their sweet tooth.
When Lily was just two years old, she was diagnosed with acute myloid leukemia, or AML, a cancer of the blood cells in which an abnormal rapid growth of white blood cells accumulate in bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells.
Lily’s grandmother Janet, who lives in Battleford, says the money raised through the event in town goes directly to building a children’s hospital in Saskatoon.
“When Lily was sick, her immune system was completely gone,” she said. “Even trying to play in the playroom, she couldn’t do that because there were other children there that might be sick. We would have to take any toys back to her room so she could play there. We’re hoping the new hospital will have specific areas for children like her.”
Janet says she can’t share enough appreciation for things like Miracle Treat Day.
“It’s just invaluable,” she said. “It’s such a hard time for the whole family. When you’re going through something like that, you really need people who love you to support you, and when you’re in another province your family can’t all be there.”
After spending six months in hospital in Saskatoon, Lily had to spend a large period of time at a hospital in Winnipeg for her treatments. Janet says she remembers when Lily was first diagnosed.
“We were babysitting (Lily and her sister),” she recalled. “The one night we were at the playground and I was feeling so proud because Lily was so lively and then the next day she got a fever. I couldn’t seem to bring it down with anything, so we took her to the doctor and he thought she just had a flu. Then she went camping with her parents (who live in Asquith) and the fever returned, so her mom took her to the hospital and within hours they had diagnosed her with the terrible disease. It went from normal, healthy child to being in a lot of trouble overnight.”
Lily has been cancer free for nearly eight years now, and hopes to continue helping out with the Children’s Hospital Foundation whenever she can.
