EDMONTON – A bottle drive dedicated to helping a young Edmonton boy and his family raised a grand total of $9,973.75.
Last Sunday, Bags upon bags of empty bottles were collected at a south Edmonton radio station Sunday, as a way to help Aaron Maier’s battle with cancer.
The 10-year-old was diagnosed with Stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma in September 2009.
“He battled for 16 months, he was into remission, we had a year of remission. Then he relapsed again and then we battled again for a year. He had six months off and then in June he relapsed again,” explained Aaron’s mother, Teresa Skinner.
“This time they’ve decided he’s terminal unless we get a miracle. So we hope everyday for a miracle.”
When NOW! Radio Host Fitzy heard about Aaron and his family he said he had to help.
“They’ve just discovered that the cancer’s back and in a fierce way. So he really wanted to go on a vacation with his family before he had to do chemo again. So they just did a Disney Cruise down to the Bahamas and they’ve got all that on their credit cards and stuff,” Fitzy explained Sunday. “I didn’t want them to have to worry about anything, or say no, just have some fun. So I wanted to help pay that off and anything else they want to do in the next little bit to do as a family.”
So Fitzy, along with some help from the folks at Quick Stop Bottle Depot, organized ‘Bottles for Aaron.’ And on Sunday, November 3, a semi truck was parked at the radio station, located at 98th St. and 42nd Ave., to collect as many bottles as possible for Aaron and his family.
By 2:00 p.m. Sunday the truck was already half full of empties.
Teresa, who came down to help Sunday, says she can’t thank everyone enough for the support her family has received.
“It’s amazing,” Teresa said, holding back tears. “It’s awesome because our time with him is really special, so it’s nice that people help with that.
“(Aaron’s) awesome and he’s amazing. Since he’s been diagnosed he does the hair massacure every year,” she said. “I watch him give back so much so it’s so nice to see people doing that for him.”
On Saturday, Fitzy presented Aaron and his family with a cheque for $9,973.75.
For more information on Aaron, you can visit Team Aaron Fighting to Cure’s Facebook Page.
This story was originally published on Sunday, November 3, 2013. It was updated at 3:32 MT Saturday, November 9, 2013 to include the monetary amount raised from the bottle drive.
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