Young Alberta survivor offers sweet boost for others battling cancer

A young cancer survivor is hoping to sweeten the journey for others, through donating 100 per cent of proceeds of his homemade crabapple jam to a Calgary charity.

“It’s kind of, like, therapeutic,” smiles 14-year-old Dylan Guthrie.

When he was just 10 years old, he was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma. A cancerous tumor was growing rapidly inside his head.

“I actually had an ear infection in the weeks leading up to it that we thought that’s just what it was, but we tried to get it to go away and it didn’t,” explains Guthrie.

His mother Tina says it was “shocking because it came out of nowhere.” She says the ear infection and the sudden appearance of a growth at the back of Dylan’s throat set off a chain reaction for medical professionals who raced to treat the young boy, fast.

For nearly a year he underwent intense radiation and chemotherapy.

“Difficult isn’t even a word, in that respect.”

But the good news is that the treatment worked.

“It was about August that he started feeling a bit better which is kind of when our tree spoke to us, I think,” laughs his mom.

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That’s when the family of four had the inspiration to make jam from the crabapples on their tree in the front yard and sell 100 per cent of the proceeds to the charity, Kids Cancer Care.

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“They aren’t funded by any government funding and they all rely on personal donations so we thought that was the best place to give it to them, especially since they helped me a lot during my treatment.”

Dylan says the organization helped send him to camp where he could hang out with other kids going through the same thing.

“Opportunities for kids with cancer where they can feel like safe and with other kids and not judged by people.”

Over the last four years the Guthrie family has dedicated a full weekend to producing the jam in their home, and it’s paid off.

“I think we’ve come up with a recipe that works,” laughs mom Tina.

Each jar sells for $6 and bulk orders of more than five sell for $5 each. They are available at: collectingforkidscancer@gmail.com

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