Mother credits Terry Fox Foundation for saving daughter’s life

Terry Fox Foundation Prince Albert board members, including Shelley and Chelsea Mitchell (Left) -- Bailey Sutherland/Daily Herald

A Prince Albert mother says she owes her daughter’s life to the Terry Fox Foundation and their continued research into cancer treatments.

Shelley and Chelsea Mitchell have been participating in the Terry Fox Run for several years, with 2022 being their first year on the board.

Chelsea is a childhood cancer survivor; she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July of 2013 when she was only 12 years old.

“I underwent three rounds, which equals to eight months of chemotherapy, which wasn’t working. I ended up having to go for a peripheral blood stem cell transplant in March of 2014 in Calgary,” she said.

Chelsea is now 21 and has been cancer-free since 2016.

Shelley said it’s important to keep up the awareness of what the Terry Fox Foundation does and continue donating so that “maybe one day, there will be no more cancer.”

“The Terry Fox Foundation is a non-profit organization that is all volunteer-based, the funds go to researching all sorts of different kinds of cancer,” said Shelley. “If it wasn’t for Terry Fox, my daughter would maybe not be here.”

The 42nd annual Terry Fox Run saw a good turnout on Sunday afternoon, with close to 50 people stopping by Alfred Jenkins Field House to register and walk together for the first time in two years.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the first Terry Fox Run held in-person since 2019.

Shelley said so far this year, the Terry Fox Foundation has raised over $19,700 in Prince Albert, with the funds still coming in.

Since 1980, the Terry Fox Foundation has raised over $850 million Canada-wide.

Brothers Vern and Bruce Hodgins participate in the 42nd annual Terry Fox Run with their dog, Charlie. — Bailey Sutherland/Daily Herald
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