A Chilliwack band is shooting up the iTunes charts just three days after releasing a song dedicated to raising money for B.C. Children’s Hospital.
Lilee-Jean Putt, the one-year-old daughter of Andrew Putt and Chelsey Whittle, has been a patient at the hospital for two months – ever since being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma.
“It’s become a whole new lifestyle – the hospital’s our home now,” Putt said Wednesday. “It’s quite different and we’re trying to adjust to it as best we can.”
Putt is the leader of a band called Pardon My Striptease. When Lilee-Jean became ill, the other members decided to release one of their songs as a fundraiser for the little girl’s family and B.C. Children’s Hospital.
“Pray (for LJ)” showed up on iTunes on Monday, Lilee-Jean’s first birthday.
“We’ve been here and seen how incredible the children’s hospital has been for them,” drummer Dylan Weightman said.
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Putt said the band’s decision to finish the song and sell it was a surprise.
“It was their idea and it was a complete shock. It speaks to their character for sure, that they’re incredible guys.”
As of Wednesday afternoon the song sat at 60th on the list of iTunes music singles and No. 2 for rock singles, behind Nickelback’s “When We Stand Together.”
For that reason, Pardon My Striptease put out a challenge to the famous Canadian band: If “Pray” hits No. 1, Pardon My Striptease wants Nickelback to match its donation to B.C. Children’s.
“If they accept the challenge it’s really neat,” Putt said.
Putt and Weightman attribute the song’s roaring success to a community that has overwhelmed the family with its generosity.
“Chilliwack is amazing. They’re really concerned about what’s going on,” Weightman said. “They’ve all been so cool about spreading the word.”
On Wednesday Putt and Whittle decided to donate their half of the money raised from the song to the hospital as well because of the positive experience they’ve had.
“It seems everyone you meet is one of the nicest, most personable people there is. It takes a pretty special sort of person to work in a place like that,” Putt said. “There’s a lot of other families just like ours that are there.”
As for little Lilee-Jean, having fought through two surgeries and two rounds of chemotherapy, an MRI scheduled for Friday will let her family know if the treatments have worked.
“We’re trying not to get too excited,” Putt said. “She looks great but you can’t see inside her head, you can’t see what’s going on.”
The community has come out in force to help raise money for Lilee-Jean’s cause, including organizing a silent auction, collecting bottles, cans and scrap metal and setting up a Christmas light display.
Ways you can help include donating at loveforlilee.com (where you can also find a list of fundraisers) or buying the single “Pray (for LJ)” on iTunes.
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