Nine-year-old Mission resident Maddi Witmer and her family are heading to Disneyworld, thanks to the generosity of people attending last week’s Vancouver Christmas Market.
The Witmer family received $10,000 raised by the Children’s Wish Foundation and Vancouver Christmas Market. The two-week fundraising campaign wrapped up on Friday, Dec. 7 with a special on-site visit from Vancouver Canucks player Brandon Sutter.
Market visitors and Canucks fans who provided a donation to the fundraiser were invited to take a shot on goal with Sutter in the hopes of raising the $10,000 needed to make Maddi’s holiday wish come true.
Diagnosed with both Sotos syndrome, a rare disease that causes overgrowth in children and delayed development, and cancer at just age two, Maddi spent several years in and out of BC Children’s Hospital before she was declared cancer-free and her Sotos syndrome safely managed.
Maddi’s greatest wish is to visit Disney World with her family this holiday season.
Sutter met with Maddi and her parents for the first time, presenting her with a bouquet of flowers. Maddi then traded her flowers for a hockey stick to battle Sutter in the first shot of the night.
Maddi was joined by here mother Dena Witmer, her father Brad Witmer and her 10-year-old brother Brady Witmer.
The fundraiser was a success and the Mission family is now heading to Disneyworld.