Young Saskatchewan girl ‘excited’ to be named hospital ambassador
A young Estevan girl, who’s made it her personal mission to spread awareness about cancer, said she was thrilled to be named ambassador for the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon.
Nine-year-old Payton Sernick was diagnosed with Stage 4 acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoma. In spite of her diagnoses, Payton helped raise $35,000 for the children’s hospital through her “Cancer Sucks” project. She said she got the idea to sell suckers on a day when she was not feeling very hungry.
“My mom’s like ‘what do you want’ and I’m like ‘suckers’ and when she asked why, I said ‘for the children’s hospital,’” she said.
For the past two summers, Payton and her brother sold suckers for a dollar a piece. The community has also held several fundraisers, and Sernick’s dad built a playhouse which was raffled off for $14,000.