Easton's Florida Trip to Battle Brain Cancer

Hi, my name is Drew and I am writing this on behalf of the many family, friends and supporters who are wanting to help raise money to support our friend Easton Beatch as he travels to Jacksonville, Florida to obtain specialized radiation treatment in his battle with brain cancer.

Easton is 9 years old and just finishing Grade 4. He lives in Calgary, Alberta with his little sister Ellie and his parents Jeffrey and Amanda, who love him immensely. He is smart, caring, curious and gentle. He loves Pokemon cards, the Tampa Bay Lightning (Steven Stamkos being his favourite player) and soccer. He is a good friend of our family's and has been like a big brother to our two young children. He is one of the loveliest kids I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. And now he's facing a very big challenge in his young life.

On June 7th, Easton was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer (affecting only a tiny percentage of children in Canada per year), and underwent two major brain surgeries within one week to have the tumor removed. The surgeons were successful in removing the parts of the tumor that they could see, but there is evidence that it has spread within the brain and so the next step on his the path to recovery is radiation treatment in order to kill these cells before they grow and cause any more damage. Easton will then begin chemotherapy in the fall in Calgary.

Canada is the only G8 country that does not have Proton Therapy radiation treatment, so Easton's doctors have recommended that he and his family travel to Jacksonville, Florida immediately (July 2nd) in order to obtain that treatment for a period of 8 weeks. This means Easton and his family will be packing up their entire lives and leaving their support system in Calgary on very short notice in order to get Easton the treatment he needs. This fundraiser is to help Easton's family with the costs of that trip.

Since the Alberta government only covers the cost of the treatment and flight (Easton and 1 parent), the main costs that we are looking to help Easton’s family with are accommodation, transportation (air and car), food and some other expenses that come along with moving across the continent on short notice. With the exchange rate and short turnaround time making things very expensive, our goal is to raise between $40,000 - $45,000 which should cover the above-mentioned costs based on my research. We will also be looking to organize a meal train for the family in Jacksonville but more information will follow on that item.

Since Easton's diagnosis, many of you have asked how you can help. Sharing this campaign using the hashtag #EastonBStrong and donating would be a great way to show your support for Easton and his family. The family will be leaving July 2nd for Jacksonville for 8 weeks so we are hoping for donations to be received before then in order to help them start to cover some of the major costs that they are already having to incur.

I plan to post regular updates of Easton's progress over the coming weeks as I receive them from Jeff and Amanda so please check in occasionally for those.

Thank you so much. Any amount you are able to donate will be truly appreciated. Let's help get Easton better and get him back to being a kid again. No child should ever have to go through this.

#EastonBStrong