The Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey Association’s Atom A team raised more than $5,000 for Griffynn Barlow’s family at a skate-a-thon held Sunday, Nov. 6.
“The donations came in super easily,” Atom A manager Michelle McLeod said. “It was crazy how generous people were.”
Griffynn is 10 years old and he has already been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) three times in his life. He has beaten cancer twice and is putting up a serious fight his third time around, but not without the support of the Sunshine Coast community, who have responded generously.
“This is a very private, humble family,” McLeod said. “They’ve never reached out for financial help. This time they did, so we knew we had to step up and help out. It’s a small community; most people on the team know who he is, and there are about four kids who are friends with him personally. Griffynn doesn’t actually play hockey, he plays soccer, but that doesn’t matter to us.”
A crowd-funding campaign in Griffynn’s name had already received almost $12,000 as of Wednesday – which surpassed the original goal of $10,000.
The Atom A team – consisting of 14 players – collected pledges to skate for an hour and 15 minutes through a variety of drills led by coaches Aaron Hamilton and Anita Flay.
According to an update posted on the fundraiser page on Oct. 8, “Griffynn’s body has responded to the chemotherapy. The pain in his body caused by the leukemia has eased off and he is much more comfortable. We won’t know for about a month the extent to which this first round worked and whether it has put him into remission, but we are hopeful. The nausea and fevers that accompany the treatment have eased off now, and his days are lighter as a result.”
McLeod said that after four weeks of chemo, Griffynn is doing a little better. This week he was allowed out of the hospital briefly.
“Right now I think things are looking as good as they could be,” McLeod said.
Donations are still open at www.youcaring.com/the-barlows-661423 and you can also visit the Facebook page, Healing Griffynn.
