On Wednesday night, we safely gathered in the Newman Gardens and lit our 2023 Christmas tree and gardens to ring in the holiday season! We had a big help from three and a half year old Calum MacDonald who pulled the candy cane switch with his big brother, Lauchlin, and IWK Health CEO, Dr. Krista Jangaard.
On October 10, 2023, Kathleen Patterson brought her son, Calum to the emergency department at the Inverness Regional in Cape Breton for a suspected ear infection. Within 24 hours, Calum was diagnosed with Leukaemia at IWK Health and began his Chemo treatment three days later. Since then, Calum has lived at the IWK for the past two months, undergoing two rounds of treatment so far and requiring one more in the coming weeks.
In the new year, Calum and his family will head to Toronto for Calum to receive a bone marrow transplant. With only a 25 per cent chance of a match, big brother Lauchlin was tested as a bone marrow donor and was found to be an exact match, meaning at only eight years old, Lauchlin will be Calum’s donor for the transplant.
In addition to the transplant, Calum and his family are looking forward to celebrating Calum’s “first” birthday during the 2024 leap year! Born on February 29, Calum will be turning four years old this year, and while the family will be in Toronto with both boys recovering, they plan still celebrate in whatever ways they can!
Thank you to all the folks involved in lighting up our Newman Gardens again this year including Perpetual Services for installing the lights, the HRM Fire Department for escorting our special guest, and of course Santa for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit us.
Please take some time this holiday season to stroll the gardens and enjoy the lights as a community.
Happy holidays!
