North Van family raises $1 million for cancer
Posted November 8, 2011 5:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A North Vancouver dad is trying to raise money and awareness for cancer research so that other parents don’t have to go through what he did.
Patrick Sullivan lost his three-year-old son Finn to a rare form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma three years ago.
“Finn was diagnosed with cancer when he was 21 months old and he went through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation,” Sullivan said. “But at the end of the day the doctors couldn’t make the cancer go away.”
But that’s not the part of the story Sullivan is interested in telling.
“Finn was a boy who lived, I don’t want him to be thought of as the boy who died,” Sullivan said. “He loved life, he lived, jumped, he ran and he bounced.”
Sullivan says the type of work that is happening with cancer research in BC offers promise to future Finns.
That’s why he formed Team Finn with his wife and two other children to help raise money.
In three years they’ve brought in more than a million dollars, but Sullivan still isn’t satisfied.
He’s made a documentary with the BC Cancer Foundation to bring even more attention to cancer research.
The project included more than five hours of interviews.
“It’s not an easy thing to do and for three to four days after it completely drained me of emotion,” Sullivan said. “It’s hard but it’s not nearly as hard as the stuff he to go through and I wouldn’t be doing right by him if I didn’t do it.”
One of the beneficiaries of the fundraising Sullivan has done is the Genome Sciences Centre at BC Children’s Hospital.
Johal Chair in Childhood Cancer Research Dr. Poul Sorensen is working on better understanding rare childhood cancers.
“I am awestruck by the strength and commitment of the Sullivans,” Sorensen said. “Every person in BC needs to watch this video to understand the monumental impact that a few individuals can have on the future of cancer care in our province.
“Our team is committed to a different ending for children like Finn. With people like the Sullivans there to support and push us, how could we not do our utmost to make this happen?”
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