UPDATE: Saskatoon boy’s Christmas card campaign raises thousands for friend in need
Five-year-old Theo Anderson has sold more than $1,100 in homemade Christmas cards in a fundraising effort to pay for a family friend’s stem cell treatment.
The Saskatoon boy was inspired after watching a video posted last week, in which Jordan Friesen and his wife Michele asked for help paying for the out-of-country procedure.
Friesen was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in 2008, a degenerative eye disease that results in tunnel vision, reduced night vision and a loss of peripheral vision.
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A crowdfunding page collecting donations for the stem cell treatment had gathered more than $20,000 of the $35,000 goal by Tuesday afternoon.
“I just don’t want Jordan to lose his sight,” Theo said while sitting behind a pile of his cards on his kitchen table.
He’s selling bundles of four cards for a minimum of $10. His mother Tara Anderson has helped by getting copies of the yuletide artwork professionally printed.
“We’ve always told him that it’s more important for us that he’s kind than if he’s smart or good at sports or music or any of that kind of thing,” Anderson said.
Her husband was a childhood soccer teammate with Friesen. Since his diagnosis, Friesen can no longer play sports. It also ended his dream of becoming a firefighter, despite having completed the necessary training.
The condition could cause complete blindness.
Instead, Friesen decided to help others as a nurse.
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The Friesen family hopes stem cell therapy conducted in China could prevent further vision loss or possibly restore it. A trial is also being offered at Gavin Herbert Eye Institute in California.
To see a five-year-old raising money to get him medical help brought Friesen to tears.
“This little kid just blows my mind. He’s my hero. He’s awesome,” Friesen said.
He hopes to receive the treatment in spring 2017.
You can order a pack of Theo’s Christmas cards by emailing Tara Anderson.
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