WEBBWOOD—Blake Crawford was a regular five-year-old boy from Webbwood (with family ties to Manitoulin Island) who enjoyed hockey, dirt bike riding and playing with his sister until his life changed forever this fall when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
“This past August, Blake hadn’t been feeling well and his mom took him on several trips to the emerg (Espanola Hospital’s emergency room),” explained Blake’s grandmother Lisa Bond of Whitefish Falls. “The Sunday of Labour Day weekend they wanted to run tests but no one was in the lab so they went back in on Monday and had blood work done and x-rays.”
Ms. Bond said that the hospital wasn’t able to find anything and continued to run tests until a second ultrasound and x-ray and another round of blood tests flagged a problem and Blake was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa on September 14.
“That Monday (September 15) they confirmed Blake had leukemia,” said Ms. Bond.
Ms. Bond told The Expositor that Blake has had every set back possible these past few months with complications ranging from a blood clot in his neck to problems with his chest port (where chemotherapy is administered).
After his first round of chemotherapy Blake was able to return home to his home in Webbwood with his mother Kayli Bond and father Beau Crawford, but unfortunately upon his return to Ottawa his status went from a standardized risk to a high risk and he will now have to undergo an extra 52 day chemo treatment, meaning that he will have five rounds of treatment (opposed to his original four).
“He will likely have to stay in Ottawa until next September, only able to come home for a few days in between treatments,” continued Ms. Bond. “His sister Haileigh is staying with us (Ms. Bond and her husband John) and family.”
Hopefully, Ms. Bond said, Blake’s condition will be stable next September and he will be able to move home and continue his treatment in Sudbury, but doctors have told the family that Blake’s overall treatment will take a minimum of three and a half years.
“Kayli and Blake are living at Ronald McDonald House in Ottawa, but she isn’t able to work and is still having to pay rent so that they have a home to come back to,” said Ms. Bond of the family’s financial situation. “Also, not all of Blake’s medical expenses are covered.”
Last Thursday, the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Little Current held a fundraising lunch to help Blake and his family raising a total of $1,650, and other area organizations are also doing what they can to help the family, including 3 Cows and a Cone, which hosted a bake sale last month.
Anyone who would like to donate to Blake and his family can do so through an account set up in Blake Crawford’s name at the TD Bank or through www.gofundme.com (search ‘Blake’s Journey’).
Ms. Bond went to visit Blake last week in Ottawa and reported that he was looking well and had fun trick or treating at the hospital for Hallowe’en.
