Evan has a match!

After four-year-old Evan Wallace spent four-and-a-half months in the Stollery Children’s Hospital waiting for a bone marrow match to be confirmed, the news that her family, along with their extended family, friends, and community have been waiting for has arrived.

“We knew we had a strong possible match before Christmas, and then a week after the New Year we were told we had two.

Evan-donation-Mar-20-12 — Evan donating $13,320 to Val Figliuzzi, President of the Kids with Cancer Foundation, to go towards funding the Children’s Therapeutic Music Program for the Stollery Hospital, and it will provide more time for it on the Oncology unit. The money came from very generous donations from family, community members, Lougheed Parent Council, Wainwright Bantam Polar Kings, Bruce Stampede Association, and Sedgewick Minor Hockey. “It’s a great program that has proved to make a big difference in these kids lives but the government funding is just not there," say the Wallaces, adding, “so, thank you!”

“So after they decided who was the better candidate we waited for them to go through the medical clearance before we told anyone.

“It took quite a while; we were still leery to announce it because at any time they could back out, so now we are confident and very assured we have an excellent donor,” says Evan’s mother, Jill.

“We were thrilled that we had a match and realize how fortunate we are.” The donor will remain anonymous for a year, and the family can only access information after that time has passed if they give consent to do so.

The Wallace family made their way to Calgary on Mar. 20 so that the preparation for Evan’s chemotherapy before her stem cell transplant could begin.

By Jaimee Russnak

For more see the March 20/12 issue of The Community Press