by Kevin Woodhouse
Robert and Cristina Byer want to help their daughter and other children suffering from cancer
For most families, Sunday is a day of rest to catch up on activities together but for Robert and Cristina Byer of Notre-Dame-de-L’Ile-Perrot residents, this past Sunday meant another trip to the Montreal Children’s Hospital as their five month old daughter Chloe Jade is suffering from an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer.
The infant daughter suffers from AT/RT that affects three out of every one million children and recently, Chloe had a large tumour removed from her brain. As a consequence of her surgery, Chloe’s immune system was compromised resulting in colitis and contracting a flu like virus.
Spending so much time at the hospital, Robert noticed that the dedicated and over worked staff has to contend with antiquated equipment to help the sick kids.
“Children are facing life threatening issues but hospital budgets are being cut to the bone,” Byer told The Suburban. “There was a lack of basic equipment like thermometers and they are using an old style pump to help Chloe.”
Not content to just sit back and do nothing, The Byers have started a crowd funding appeal to raise $25,000 to help modernize some of the equipment used on his daughter and the other children at the hospital.
“We plan to use a part of this money to help the Neuro Surgery and Oncology departments and their staff who are working tirelessly around the clock to try and find a viable and definitive response as to treatment of this deadly form of pediatric brain/c.n.s. cancer, which seems to attack helpless infants and children, as it is now doing to our little baby girl,” explained Byer in his heartfelt pitch.
Chloe can make a full recovery but it will involve six to nine months of “of agressive chemotherapy as a result of her extremely aggressive brain cancer known as AT/RT. I can’t believe that this is happening to us but I will not give up this fight. I choose to celebrate Chloe’s life and I’m making this plea to anyone who may be able to help my family and our little angel Chloe Jade Byer.”
To donate to Chloe Jade Byer’s campaign, visit http://www.gofundme.com/l7nwnw.
