This is the kind of news that no one wants to receive, especially during the holidays. Yet this is what storyteller Fred Pellerin and his daughter Marie-Fée had to experience in 2019.
The father and daughter decided to tell their story as ambassadors of the Grand Sapin de Sainte-Justine.
After a scan taken the day before in Trois-Rivières, they were told that Marie-Fée had something “monstrous” between her lungs.
“The doctor told us “it’s December 24, go home, and exchange gifts this evening, because tomorrow we have to return to Sainte-Justine,” explains Fred Pellerin.
The 14-year-old was diagnosed with cancer, stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
It had already been a year since Marie-Fée had not felt at the top of her game, she had back pain and fatigue that no one could explain.
But ultimately it was the cancer that attacked her.
“The fear of dying has settled in like an unexpected guest. Belong to this reality? Never, never,” explains Marie-Fée, now 18 years old, in a text she signed on the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation website.
Six cycles of chemotherapy and 14 sessions of radiotherapy were necessary to neutralize the cancer established in his lymph nodes.
“Countless hours during which, little by little, Sainte-Justine became my landmark, my fortress,” she emphasizes.
“We returned here on December 24, which corresponds approximately to the winter solstice. The winter solstice is the longest night, it is the time when the darkness is most extensive in the year. And following the treatments, we were almost at Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, the summer solstice, the time when the light is longest in the year. It’s a story of light,” says Fred Pellerin.
Today, Marie-Fée assures us that she is doing well. She studies at Collège Brébeuf, and dreams of becoming a doctor. She feels lucky to still be alive.
She decided to tell her story for the first time to raise awareness about donating as part of the Grand Fir of Saint-Justine fundraising campaign.
“Until then, this year, I am impatiently awaiting the lighting of the Great Fir. The one that you will make possible for hundreds of families in search of hope, like mine was,” writes Marie-Fée.
The 16th Grand Fir of Sainte-Justine campaign is underway until December 7.