Community rallies around young cancer patient
Community members are digging into their pockets to help a young man buy a prosthetic leg after he lost a limb to cancer.
And the support has left Mark Steel speechless.
There’s more than $3,500 in Steel’s GoFundMe account, raised in under five days.
“It blows my mind completely,” said Steel of the backing.
The 21-year-old’s right leg was amputated above the knee at the end of January.
Steel was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma in October – it’s the same type of cancer Terry Fox had.
Earlier this month, Steel was discussing prosthetics during a medical appointment. He assumed an artificial leg wouldn’t be cheap, but the actual cost was overwhelming.
Steel would need somewhere between $9,000 and $10,000 to purchase a leg.
He’d be able to get some financial support from the War Amps and the government, but not nearly enough to cover the cost.
So he turned to the community for help.
“I don’t really like asking for people’s money, but there’s really no other option,” Steel said during a YouTube video he posted online for his cause.
Since posting the video and creating the crowdfunding site on Thursday, Steel has received just over $3,590 in donations.
“It makes me speechless every time I think about it. People are just awesome,” he said.
The Kenner Collegiate graduate set a goal of $6,000 to help fund the prosthesis. He’s not looking for anything fancy though.
“I really only care about getting a functional leg, nothing super special where it’s mind controlled or something,” he said in his video.
Down the road, Steel would like to purchase a prosthetic designed for running, so he can continue to keep active.
“I love running ... I love doing sports in general.”
When that day comes, Steel plans to carry on Fox’s legacy of raising funds and awareness for cancer research.
Fox has always been a hero of Steel’s and although he said it might sound weird, it’s an honour to share his shoes.
“Because I get to continue the marathon of hope and I think that’s very cool.”
For now, most of Steel’s days are spent in Toronto, where he gets four days of chemo at a time.
Once his leg is fully healed from the surgery, he’ll be able to start wearing his prosthesis this summer.
Then he’d like to start training and building his stamina in order to begin his own marathon of hope.
Steel said it’ll be baby steps at first, maybe running one city’s length at a time until he’s ready to take on more.
And when the time comes, he plans to pick up where Fox’s journey had to end in Thunder Bay.
NOTE: Mark Steel’s GoFundMe can be found at www.gofundme. com/marks-prosthesis-cost