Wish come true
Six-year-old cancer survivor treated to private Aaron Goodvin concert
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. – When Dayla Gallant left school the morning of Feb. 3, she thought her parents were taking her out for lunch.
Instead, the six-year-old from Indian River found herself ending her class early for the day, ready to enjoy a private concert by her favourite singer, Canadian country artist Aaron Goodvin.
“My parents didn’t tell me I was leaving,” said Dayla, sitting in her mother’s lap.
She wore her newly gifted Aaron Goodvin tour shirt, bearing the musician’s signature. The oversized merch is something she will have to grow into, but she was excited to put it on the second she could.
In 2017, Dayla, was barely a year old when she was diagnosed with fourth-stage neuroblastoma in her stomach.
Following a year and a half of treatment – chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and a double bone marrow transplant – Dayla went into remission. Years later, her family is proud to say she is doing well.
While Dayla was still fighting her illness, she and her family became fans of Goodvin. In particular, Dayla fell in love with his then-newly-released song Lonely Drum – which, when she was younger, she called “boom boom.”
“She loves music, and that song always came on,” said Gallant. “The feet were always going, and the hands were always clapping.”
Cory Gallant – a family friend and country singer – reached out to Goodvin and, shortly after, Dayla received a personalized video from the musician.
Dayla’s father – Logan MacKinnon – tracked Goodvin over Facebook to send a thank-you message.
“I always jump at the opportunity to try and help wherever I can,” said Goodvin.
“If that means through music or through some video … it’s awesome to be able to help kids like Dayla get through some of that hard stuff.”
Although Goodvin has not faced the same struggles as Dayla, his own time in the hospital as a child fighting mastoiditis has created empathy toward her situation.
Gallant wipes tears from her eyes as she recalls watching the clip with her daughter.
“I just had no words,” she said. “It meant a lot.”
Goodvin played a show at Credit Union Place on Friday, Feb. 4. As he tours across Canada, he is stopping at Cooperators locations for private concerts for staff and clients.
When Goodvin arranged the Co-operators concert in Summerside, he had no idea that he would be singing for Dayla and her family.
“It’s just amazing how that all kind of comes together,” he said. “It is a small world.”
In a word, watching his daughter meet one of her heroes was “overwhelming” for MacKinnon.
“I was kind of in shock up until we walked in the door,” he said. “It’s one of those things, like, ‘is this really happening?’ That was five years ago we got that video, and (now) she got to give him a hug.”
Gallant, likewise, was surprised when she was asked to take her daughter to meet Goodvin.
“I never believed that this day would actually come,” she said. “I always said that if we could thank Aaron Goodvin in person it would be a dream come true.”
“My wish came true,” Dayla echoed.