Children raise $1,190 for SickKids Hospital

Two Birch Cliff children, Damon and Lily Muirhead, raised more than one thousand dollars at their lemonade stand on Saturday to support the Hospital for Sick Children.

Damon and Lily set up their stand at the foot of their driveway on Eastwood Avenue at 8am and had a steady stream of customers – neighbours, friends and strangers – stopping by to support their campaign.

By early afternoon, they had raised a remarkable $1,190.55

“It’s because I have a brain tumour and I really want to raise funds for SickKids and help them out as well as they helped me out,” said Damon, 10.  “They treat me very nicely and they make me feel very good. I give them a hug every single day after my chemo.”

Damon’s mother, Elizabeth Keyes, said that Damon was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour at SickKids in March after displaying cognitive difficulties.  

He’s in the midst of a 70-week course of chemotherapy and is participating in a clinical drug trial to shrink the tumour.  Damon also has a shunt because he was simultaneously diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a build up of fluid in the brain. 

Keyes said the definitive MRI was ordered by a student doctor at the SickKids emergency department who bowed his head and was emotional with them when they learned the diagnosis.

“They have been incredible the entire way, just amazing,” Keyes said. 

Despite significant visual impairments and problems with his memory, Keyes describe Damon as “positive” and “selfless” and said it’s important to him to raise funds to help other sick children.  He got the idea in hospital when he saw a little girl bringing toys to other children and said, “Mom I want to do that at the end because that makes everyone feel so good”.

The world-class Hospital for Sick Children was built in 1949 and is the midst of a $1.3 billion fundraising campaign to build a new patient care centre on University Ave. and support ground breaking paediatric research.