Meet Asher

Asher was born in August 2012. According to his dad, Kevin, he was beautiful, happy little boy. “Immediately, the love of his older sister’s life,” he says.

When he was almost three months old, Asher’s parents found a strange bump on the back of his head and took him to see their paediatrician. After a series of tests, Asher was diagnosed with a rare disease: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH).

From the age of three months to three years old, Asher and his parents were at McMaster Children’s Hospital, almost daily. They would arrive in the early morning hours for chemotherapy, and little Asher would receive treatment through a port in his chest. He spent many nights at the hospital during his treatment.

“It was a tumultuous time in our lives,” says Kevin. “I counted 764 treatments over the course of three years.”

Kevin recalls one occasion when six-month old Asher became septic, and they had to rush to the hospital. “That was the most difficult part. When he was febrile [with a fever], we had to be at the hospital within 30 minutes to make sure that everything was okay.” The family then spent five days straight in the hospital until Asher improved. “I don’t think a lot of people realize that when families are battling different cancers or life-altering sicknesses that anything as little as a cold or a regular fever can become extremely dangerous for a child very quickly,” he says.

Now 11 years old, Asher is a rambunctious skateboarder, hockey player, basketball player, and volleyball player.

It was only recently that Asher and his family met Campfire Circle.

“We had a friend whose child is also a cancer survivor, and she had spoken about Campfire Circle. She had the opportunity to spend time with kids that had similar experiences, and she came out of it so much more well-rounded,” says Kevin.

“Because Asher was so young, he doesn’t remember much about his treatment. But he does live with this ongoing fear that it will come back. And he doesn’t have anybody on the same level that he could speak to about it,” explains Kevin.

Asher’s first experience with Campfire Circle was a community event in Hamilton called Birds of Prey. “Asher loved it,” says Kevin. “Later this month, he’ll be going to a hockey game in London, and in July, he’s going to a week of camp in Muskoka.”

Kevin is a hockey coach and runner, who is participating in the Sporting Life 10K for the first time.

“I’ve always been big on fundraising and this was the most perfect opportunity to support a cause I believe in. I see the benefit that my son had from simply one experience with a community event, and I can’t wait to see what experience he will have at camp,” he says.

“I want cancer to not be the scariest word in the English language anymore,” adds Kevin. “I’m going to do what I can to bring awareness to LCH or leukemia so that people help and donate. The Sporting Life 10K is the right event for me to make a difference.”