City opens its heart to Alberta triplets
Edmonton family at Sick Kids for boys’ cancer treatments surprised by the generosity
The Alberta parents of sevenmonth-old medical marvels say they are overwhelmed by the unexpected outpouring of love that Toronto has shown them in their time of need.
Before setting out for Toronto to get cancer treatments for their triplet baby boys, Richard and Leslie Low desperately sought help from strangers.
They wrote a blog post seeking affordable accommodations for a young family of six.
Their length of stay? Unknown. Their next visit? Very soon. That was on Friday. By Sunday their website had been seen by more than 100,000 people and the couple had received 1,000 email responses and counting.
“We were very surprised,” Richard said. “It’s been something else, that’s for sure.”
The emails included discounted offers on vacation rentals, cut-rate corporate suites and even university dorm rooms.
Still others offered up their own homes free of charge.
Those who didn’t have accommodations to give the young Edmonton family fighting cancer simultaneously on three fronts, offered food, diapers and emotional support instead.
Mississauga realtor Alvaro de la Terre was among the first so moved by the Lows’ plight that he wants them to have the run of his fourbedroom home while he and his wife take care of the cooking and cleaning.
De la Terre is even willing to throw in free rides to and from Sick Kids Hospital where little Luke, Mason and Thomas Low have been coming for treatment.
“As a realtor, I know how expensive it can be for short-term accommodation and how difficult it is to find,” de la Terre said.
Something about the Lows’ story “touched” him, he said, admitting he has never offered to open his home to a stranger — let alone six — before. Others were similarly struck. Leigh, a 24-year-old nursing student at York University who asked only to be identified by her first name, wrote to the Edmonton family to offer pro bono services as a babysitter.
“I appreciate how difficult it is when a family member is getting treatment,” she said. “I felt like they must have so much stress already that if there’s something I could do for them to release a little bit of the stress than why not do it?” For the Lows, stress has certainly been peaking lately. On Wednesday they were told that Mason’s cancer had spread outside his eye, triggering the latest trip to Toronto for emergency chemotherapy. “Now it’s kind of a whole new ballgame,” Richard said. Both Mason and Thomas have already lost an eye each to the disease, while Luke still has both eyes but is blind in one. Known as retinoblastoma, the cancer is a very rare but highly survivable form that attacks the retina dur- ing infancy. The diagnosis of all three triplets with the disease was previously unheard of, according to Richard, a medical resident.
On prior trips to Sick Kids, the Lows had stayed at a mix of motels, hotels and condo units, but now that they anticipate returning every three weeks, it’s nice to know there are other, more affordable doors open, Richard said.