A Sylvan Lake girl, named Maite Lemieux, needs treatment that can’t be done in Canada. The Grade four student at Steffi Woima Elementary school was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December. She had surgery to remove it, but unfortunately after only a month it grew back.
Kayla Webb, a friend of the family explains what is needed to help Maite.
“Maite has had to have a second and a third surgery now to keep the tumor from growing back and to remove some of the fluids that are putting pressure on her. It’s a type of radiation that we don’t have in Canada. Now it's a rush to get her to Florida before it starts to grow back. As a community, we just want to help the family be together during this really hard time and alleviate any financial worries so they can just focus on her.”
Webb talks about some of the fundraising that has been done so far.
"We have had a lot of support from our school community. We recently had a dance with the kids coming in and all of the profits from that went to Maite.
But the most important thing has been a Go-Fund me link started by her neighbor. And that has been the easiest way for us to reach a lot of people to try and get lots of support. We also have an E-transfer option that can be used.”
Others in Sylvan Lake have stepped up as well including A&W which is donating $2.00 from every Teen Burger sold and donations taken at the counter. Donations are also being accepted at Steffi Woima Elementary School on 45th Avenue in Sylvan Lake.
As far as a timeline on when the family can head to Florida for the much-needed treatment, Webb says it’s a bit up in the air right now.
“It's just depending on when she's stable enough to fly down, but it could be as early as next week. WE really want to push over the next couple of days to make sure that they're feeling really confident that the family can go together and that they'll be able to meet all the expenses while they're away.”
If you would like to donate for Maite, here is the link to the Go-Fund me page
And the E-transfer address is loveformaite@gmail.com