A 13-year-old from Castlegar is hoping to raise awareness and funds for the BC Children’s Hospital Dream Lottery Foundation by sharing their story.
In October 2023, Nova Ellis was diagnosed with Renal Ewings Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
The next nine months saw Nova and her parents, Janelle and Jesse, in Vancouver at the BC Children’s Hospital while Nova underwent surgeries and several rounds of chemotherapy.
When the family first arrived at BC Children’s Hospital from Castlegar for testing in October 2023, Jesse and Janelle didn’t anticipate that the family would remain there for the next nine months.
“We thought we were just going for scans. It wasn’t until this summer that we’ve been able to go back home as a family,” said Janelle.
It was a long nine months for Nova and her family, but the BC Children’s Hospital Dream Lottery Foundation made sure they were supported.
“For me, it felt like home while I was there, but that’s just me as a dad. I was back and forth from the Kootenays to there, and it was really nice. It was an awesome place to be when I was there. I think it was invaluable. We could not have done what we did without the support of all the teams there,” said Jesse.
That’s why Nova and her family are sharing her story, with the goal of bringing more awareness to the BC Children’s Hospital Dream Lottery Foundation and the work they do for cancer patients and research.
“I feel like we need to raise money because we can’t fix anything more than what we have. We can’t get any better, and chemo is really sucky. So, we need to figure out a better way to get rid of the cancer,” said Nova.
Jesse said that prior to Nova’s diagnosis, he didn’t realize that all the funds raised through the BC Children’s Hospital Dream Lottery Foundation go directly to cancer research.
When they were told Nova has a rare form of cancer, the Ellises quickly learned how much more cancer research is needed.
“Nova has a rare form of a rare cancer, and unlike common kinds of cancer, more studies can be done on them because there are more people to study. As soon as it’s a rare cancer, then it’s harder to get those studies together. So much less is known about Nova’s cancer. Raising funds for cancer research gives insight that leads to more effective forms of cancer treatment,” explained Janelle.
“Before being thrown into all of this, I really didn’t know a lot about cancer. I wish that nobody had to learn anything about cancer because I wish it didn’t exist.”
Ticket sales for the 2024 Dream Lottery run until midnight, Friday, October 11, or until they are sold out.
Individuals can purchase their tickets online, by phone at 604-536-2491 or 1-888-888-1567, or in person at London Drugs and Save-On-Foods.
More information on Dream Lottery can be found here.
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