{"id":9019,"date":"2018-11-19T15:30:27","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T19:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=9019"},"modified":"2018-11-19T15:30:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T19:30:27","slug":"cancer-is-such-a-horrible-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=9019","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCancer is such a horrible thing.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

BEAVER BANK:<\/strong> Becca Schofield may have passed away earlier this year due to cancer, however the well-known girl still provides inspiration for a unique project being done by a young Lower Sackville woman, who is a cancer survivor.<\/p>\n

Katie MacLeod is making a photography documentary series titled \u201cMy Cancer, My Story\u201d profiling kids with cancer and posting it to Facebook and Instagram. There will also be a website in the next few months. She is doing it with the blessing of the IWK.<\/p>\n

VIDEO: Katie MacLeod on what #MyCancerMyStory is<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Eventually, MacLeod\u2014diagnosed with the rare Stage 4 soft tissue cancer at birth\u2014wants to turn the series into a book with stories of each of the kids she\u2019s profiled; so far she has done about 15. She\u2019s never met someone with the same cancer as she has.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two profiles that really stick out for me so far are one on a camper of mine at Camp Good time, Becca Schofield,\u201d said MacLeod inside the Tim Hortons on Beaver Bank Road. \u201cShe passed away from her battle with cancer in February. She was one of my very close friends, who was the very first person I photographed for the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe influenced and helped me a lot throwing ideas around before she passed. That one holds a special place in my heart because she was one of my best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said another profile that sticks out is one she did on a boy named Joey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was sick in the hospital, Joey was 14 when he was in the hospital and was 17 when he died because of his cancer,\u201d the Lower Sackville resident said. \u201cHe helped my mom (Gaelyn MacLeod) a lot getting through my diagnosis. We\u2019re still really close with his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joey\u2019s story was just launched on Nov. 14 on the My Cancer, My Story Facebook and Instagram pages.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a quote that Schofield told MacLeod once, and it continues to stick with her to this day.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe used to always say a quote from Harry Potter and that was \u2018Fear the name, increases fear of the object itself,\u2019\u201d said MacLeod, 24. \u201cI think that applies very well to cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It all started because she is a cancer survivor herself having been diagnosed when she was born with a rare Stage 4 sarcoma cancer. She initially wanted to attend nursing school, but being squeamish after what she\u2019s gone through she figured that field wasn\u2019t quite her cup of tea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started doing photography when I was 14 of 15 and then went to school for it,\u201d said MacLeod.<\/p>\n

She started doing self-portraits on her remission days, and then she photographed Schofield.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids are my motivation for doing My Cancer, My Story,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

MacLeod has met so many families and bonded with the kids going through what she has.<\/p>\n

\u201cCancer is such a horrible thing, but the people I\u2019ve met through the cancer world make it so worth it,\u201d she said smiling. \u201cIt\u2019s the best thing I\u2019ve done in my life so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said My Cancer, My Story is about bringing awareness that more funding is needed for research into childhood cancer. Currently, they only get four per cent of funding directed towards cancer research.<\/p>\n

She said the response has been overwhelming\u2014to the point a couple of the posts have gone viral and reached more than 10,000 views.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great support from the community from those who have posted on Instagram and Facebook,\u201d said MacLeod.<\/p>\n

MacLeod wants to do a Humans of New York style documentary book where the reader can look at the photos of the kids and read their stories. All of this is being done through her own volunteer time, not being paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would eventually be able to approach places for grants so I can donate to the Oncology floor and research into childhood cancer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

One goal she wants to do is take sales from the book and donate it to the Canadian Cancer Society and the Oncology floor at the IWK.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to give back to people in the field that saved my life and will continue to save other children\u2019s lives,\u201d said MacLeod.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEAVER BANK: Becca Schofield may have passed away earlier this year due to cancer, however the well-known girl still provides inspiration for a unique project being done by a young Lower Sackville woman, who is a cancer survivor. Katie MacLeod is making a photography documentary series titled \u201cMy Cancer, My Story\u201d profiling kids with cancer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,12],"tags":[10,76,77,78,79],"class_list":["post-9019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-featured","tag-beaver-bank","tag-cancer","tag-katie-macleod","tag-my-cancer-my-story","tag-survivors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}