Lethbridge teen uses rare struggle to help families handle cancer

LETHBRIDGE – Going from competition to the hospital was not how Alyssa Fraser envisioned her Grade 10 year.

The 16-year-old is a weightlifting champion, winning Junior Nationals in January 2014. Her hope was to continue that streak, but her dream was ripped away from her.

Shortly after her big victory, she began getting sharp pains in her upper hip, which prevented her from continuing to compete.

“I still thought, it’s going to get better, it’s going to get better. I’ll compete when competition season comes this year,” she said. “Then I ended up having to quit.”

Leaving the sport she loves wasn’t the worst thing Fraser would have to deal with. After several tests, she was diagnosed in February with Pseudomyogenic Hemangioendothelioma, a rare form of cancer.

“I didn’t think it was cancer for sure. Just thought I tweaked something and it would be gone soon,” she added.

Even more unusual is that the type of cancer she has is primarily found in males between 20 to 30 years old, and not typically located in the hips. Doctors told her that because it’s so rare, they are unable to diagnose the severity of her tumour at this stage.

“It’s hard,” said her mother, Dee Fraser. “I’m worried about her, because you know, you want to fix it. Alyssa tells us all the time, ‘I’m okay,’ and that’s what we focus on. If she’s okay, then we’re okay.”

Fraser decided to turn her struggle into something special, raising money for Helping Families Handle Cancer Foundation in Calgary. The group is a non-profit that gives families support with the financial cost that comes with having a child battling cancer. They have helped pay for Fraser’s medication, which is not covered by health insurance.

“Having a kid with cancer is so stressful already, and having to worry about the money that you’re spending to take your kid to get their treatment that they need to survive is not fair.” Her goal was $7,500, a number she surpassed in less than a week through her donation site here. The successful fundraising was a testament to the power of her positive attitude.

“Didn’t surprise me that she wanted to give back and help other people,” her mother explained. “I think it’s a way for her to focus her energy on something other than her pain, her situation. She thinks of someone else that could be worse off than her.”

Giving back to others is a way for the teen to find solace in her struggle, and helps her through the pain of knowing she may never compete in weightlifting again.

“I definitely want to if I could, so it’s hard knowing that something I love, this is preventing me,” Fraser said.

If you would like to learn more about her Fraser’s fundraiser, please visit her donation page here.