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Healthier Children. A Better World.™

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Meet Our Hero: Cassie

Cassie enjoys public speaking. So much so that she recently entered a competition to recount her experience as a cancer patient at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

The summer of 2007 is one Cassie will always remember. While most 11-year-old girls were enjoying their time off school and playing in the sun, Cassie spent the better part of her summer travelling from her home in Peterborough to SickKids in Toronto.

Cassie

Cassie, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Doctors diagnosed Cassie with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer that starts in the lymphoid tissue. This tissue makes up the lymph nodes, spleen and other organs of the immune system.

Cassie was referred from her local hospital to SickKids for its specialized cancer care. Since being diagnosed, Cassie has undergone countless tests and procedures, including bone marrow testing, spinal taps, many blood tests and rounds of chemotherapy.

Currently, Cassie is in the maintenance stage of her treatment. She returns to SickKids every three weeks to receive chemotherapy. She is in high spirits and truly excels in school.

Cassie is extremely outgoing and has certainly learned a lot from her journey with cancer. After presenting her speech in Kingston, Ontario at the Optimist Oratorical Competition, her bravery and wisdom was evident to everyone. Cassie won a scholarship towards her post-secondary education for sharing her SickKids story.

Each year, The Hospital for Sick Children sees approximately 320 new cancers patients like Cassie, who represent 25 per cent of all new cases of paediatric cancer in Canada.

 

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Thousands of children like Cassie need your support.