A nine-year-old brain cancer survivor will sail the seas with Mickey Mouse next month thanks to some $16,000 raised by St. Albert students.
William D. Cuts Junior High students cheered last Friday when they learned that Edmonton Grade 4 student Robin Karnitschar was going on a Disney cruise thanks to the $16,000 they had raised for Make-A-Wish Northern Alberta.
The announcement was made Friday as part of the students' first assembly in their shiny new gym.
The school's Leadership class picks one charity each year to be the beneficiary of the school's fundraising efforts, said principal Mike Tod. This year, the kids decided to aim for $10,000 to fund a wish through Make-A-Wish (a group that aims to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses).
The students blew past that, raising some $16,165.29, Make-A-Wish event co-ordinator Trish Haryett told the school Friday.
"You guys rock!"
Karnitschar, 9, was diagnosed with brain cancer last year, his mother Claudia Pooli told the 350-some students at the assembly. He's gone through multiple rounds of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and has now completely recovered.
"Robin's looking forward to having some fun, making some new good memories and leaving that brain tumour behind," she said, fighting back tears.
Cancer journey
In an interview, Pooli said the family first saw signs of trouble in Karnitschar on Thanksgiving, 2014, when he had a headache that made him sick – the first of many over the next few months.
"We knew something was wrong because we didn't think it was normal for an eight-year-old to get so many headaches."
On March 1, 2015, the headaches and associated vomiting were so bad the family took him to the emergency room.
"He said (the pain) was a 15 on a 10-point scale," Pooli said.
Doctors at the Stollery Children's Hospital discovered an egg-shaped and sized tumour in Karnitschar's cerebellum (the lower rear part of the brain).
Karnitschar went for the first of several brain surgeries on March 3, after which he had to spend a month learning how to walk and talk again. After that came eight weeks of radiation treatment in Florida and nine shots of chemotherapy spread out over a year.
It was extremely stressful for everyone, Pooli said.
"You sort of go on autopilot," she said.
"You can't really plan because you don't really know what's going to happen next."
Rally for Robin
The doctors said Karnitschar blazed through his treatment "like a house on fire" with few complications apart from the usual hair loss, Pooli said. His fellow students at Forest Heights School were also super-supportive, and created a "Rockin' Robin" fundraiser to raise money for brain cancer research.
The family applied to the Make-A-Wish Foundation earlier this year on the recommendation of staffers at the Stollery, Pooli said.
Karnitschar, a fan of doodling and video games, said he decided to wish for a Disney cruise because "that was the only thing that came into my mind." His sister, Natasha, said she suggested the idea to him after hearing about the cruise from a friend.
Meanwhile, W.D. Cuts students were already hard at work raising money for Make-A-Wish through bake sales, dances and their annual walk-a-thon, which accounted for about $11,000 of what was raised, Tod said.
Pooli said Karnitschar learned that his wish had been granted on Oct. 7.
His reaction was typically nonchalant, Natasha said.
"He's just, like, 'Oh. Cool.'"
The family leaves on Nov. 3 for a six-night cruise from New York to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, Pooli said. They'll also visit one of Karnitschar's favourite monuments, the Statue of Liberty.
"I'm not sure how we could express our gratitude."
Karnitschar said he was looking forward to riding on waterslides and lying on the beach.
Tod said exercises such as this one get students to think about the world outside of school, which creates caring citizens. The students plan to raise another $10,000 for Make-A-Wish this school year, he added.
"I'm just really proud of everybody."
