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Ella Shepherd Marchildon and her husband Joe in their Kirkland home. (JOHN KENNEY/The Gazette)
West Island community still eager to help Kirkland woman battling cancer
Fundraising efforts still needed to help Ella
Karen Seidman
The Gazette
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Ella Shepherd Marchildon and her husband Joe in their Kirkland home. (JOHN KENNEY/The Gazette)
Despite the government’s decision this week to fund Ella Shepherd Marchildon’s life-saving cancer surgery in the U.S., all the fundraising events planned on her behalf will still proceed, Joe Marchildon said this week.
“We just don’t know what ancillary costs there will be,” Ella’s husband, Joe, said. “We know that the government doesn’t cover travel or hotel costs.”
The Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec had twice refused to pay for specialized surgery and chemotherapy at the Sugarbaker Oncology Clinic in Washington, D.C., but this week reversed that position.
Joe said the couple was still overwhelmed by the tremendous community support they’ve received and will still need at least some of the money that’s in the process of being raised.
“We’ll probably donate anything that’s left over to another charity, or try to help someone in a similar situation (requiring cancer surgery out of the country that’s not covered by RAMQ),” he said.
Dean Laderoute, one of the owners of McKibbins Irish Pub in Pointe Claire, which is planning an event for Ella, said he's still eager to help.
"It was heartbreaking to see the government turn their back on someone like this," he said. "Whatever we can do, we'll definitely still do it."
A host of events have been planned to help Ella, including a wine-scotch-food tasting at Bourbon St. West, a Blue Sunshine Music event at both McKibbins Pub and the Momesso Caffé, Comedy for a Cause and an Irish pub night that will involve several pubs throughout the city all coming up in the next month or so.
For information on the events or to donate money, go to www.helpella.com