I want to give children fighting cancer "The Will To Survive".

One of the highlights for all her work with the Miracle weekend was when she was invited to be one of the first teen hosts (thanks in part to Jayne). Originally she was asked to do Sat (with a script) but she was invited to come back on Sun (which was unscripted). She was so excited! Loved every minute of it. Steve and Sophie used to joke she was going to take their jobs. The other special memory was at Balding for Dollars in '2010. A group of her high school friends (and 1 dad) had decided to surprise us and shave their heads in her honor. I remember being in tears over this gesture. It was very special! (also a friend Jessica had also done it the previous year).

We have now arrived at the start of version 2 of the song ... the professional recording at the studio (Nimbus) of Garth Richardson. He connected us to Ryan McMahon (& all the wonderful guys in his band) as well as Cathleen McMahon (managed a lot for us). Megan was invited to sing at many events - BCIT Balding for $'s (organized by good friend Rob Sawatsky), Evening to Inspire (Victoria event for children's oncology), Shine fundraiser, Michael Cuccionne events (family from BCCH who raise research money in memory of their son), and so much more. It was a busy time but she was pleased to help out. (There are so many people and events I apologize to anyone I am not mentionning!)

When Dan Mornar (BCCH patient advocate) attended a conference in Ottawa he took version 1 of Megan's song along. He was interested in having it become what he called an anthem for childhood cancer. The Childhood Cancer Foundation and Candlelighters Canada wanted to use it for a campaign called Small Hands (a fundraising initative). This is where Susan McLennan entered our lives. She helped reach out to people in BC that she knew to keep the ball rolling for development of Megan's song. She connected us to so many people - Garth Richardson, and Ryan and Cathleen McMahon. Thanks to her hard work the rest of the story would not have happened. Thank you Susan for continuing to believe in Megan when the Toronto project did not happen! (I believe the 2 charities are no longer together, but may be operating independently).

Once Dan Mornar (BCCH patient advocate at the time) as well as some of the foundation staff heard that Megan wanted to bring attention to teens with cancer (which didn't have much attention at that point) she started to be invited to speak. We began to attend Miracle Weekend and our first event was the interview with Jill Krop. Megan was also invited to be the first BC Ambassador for the Sears Kids Cancer ride (now know N as National Kids Cancer ride). She presented her story to introduce people to the many challenges of the cancer journey. This event was a cycle from West coast to the East coast to fundraise for childhood cancer research. Sears helped sponsor the event with the riders also raising the money to cover costs. Most impressive feat and event at the time! Both of these events continue today!

The Child run was an event Megan, her grandmother and I had taken part in before her cancer journey. It was rather ironic that she ended up performing her song at the event in '2007. This was the first time she had performed it in public, and as you can see she was still not strong after her long intensive therapy involving surgeries and months of 5 different chemo's. The support from family and friends was amazing and lifted her's and our spirits immensely. In '2007 all monies raised were going to the oncology dept. so we were very excited. The Childrun still goes on and supports other aspects of the hospital