At four years old, Tristan Johnson’s
biggest worry should be deciding
which cartoons to watch and finding
his toys.
But instead he’s undergoing treatment
at the Stollery Children’s Hospital
for leukemia — for the second
time.
Westlock Thunderbirds executive
president Trevor Woods said when
the team heard about Johnson’s
plight they knew they had to help
out. To that end, the team will be
playing a special fundraising game
Oct. 5 against the Olds Bulldogs to
collect bottles and money to help the
family with living expenses during
the treatment.
“They’ve got a tonne of traveling to
do. He has to spend his first month
in Calgary receiving an immune-suppressant
treatment, then he’s up at
the Stollery in Edmonton. After that,
he’s probably got a few months ahead
of him there,” said Woods. “There’s
six kids in this family. Some of them
are staying with grandparents and
other relatives right now so they can
make sure everyone is taken care of
so they can focus on Tristan’s treatment.”
All parking fees will also be donated
to the cause. Woods said he
was hoping to raise money to help
the family with transportation and
accommodation costs as well.
“Basically, we’re going to bring a
bunch of closed trailers and we’re
hoping to fill them all,” he said. “We
haven’t sat down and made a target
in dollars, but in my head if we could
raise $5,000 that would be a good
start.”
Johnson was first diagnosed with
leukemia at nine months old. After
several months of treatment the
cancer appeared to be in remission.
However, a few years later the leukemia
resurfaced.
Now he’s getting a bone marrow
transplant, which will leave him in
the hospital for several months.
“They were very lucky that two
of his siblings were a bone marrow
match,” said Woods. “They didn’t
have to go through the exhaustive
search to find a donor, so that’s good.”
Kickoff for the Oct. 5 exhibition
game is 2 p.m., but Woods said he
would be set up at the football field
at noon to begin filling trailers.
Woods said his plan was to fill as
many vans as he could during the
game, but noted if people wanted
to donate ahead of time they could
reach him at footballwestlock@gmail.
com or (780) 206-7797.
“People can contact us and we’ll
arrange a drop-off somewhere,” he
said. “We’re happy to help and we
hope we can raise a lot for this family
and get them through this tough
time.”
Cash donations are also being
accepted. Woods said people could
either donate to him or directly to
the family at a Gofundme page set
up for Johnson, which can be found
at https://www.gofundme.com/
tristan039s-quotroad-trip-of-lifequot
