the
Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 47 Issue 46
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 2.25% 3 Year GIC - 2.43% 5 Year GIC - 2.70% Daily Interest 1.45%
638-3328
Friday, November 14, 2014
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Community rallies for family of youth battling leukemia
Battling cancer - Two-year-old Evan Conway of Drayton was diagnosed with leukemia last month. He is currently receiving treatment at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton. submitted photo
by Caroline Sealey DRAYTON - The lives of one Drayton family changed in mid-October when twoyear-old Evan Conway, son of Maggie and Bill Conway, was diagnosed with leukemia. It all started with a strange rash on Evan’s legs that looked like tiny, red pin pricks under the skin. Small, dark bruises appeared on his feet, arms, cheek and ear. The next day, Oct. 16, the rash had doubled on his leg and covered the rest of his body. The bruises had darkened significantly. That evening, doctors at Palmerston hospital were unable to diagnose Evan’s condition until blood tests showed platelets (which help clot blood) were at extremely low levels. After a call was placed to McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Evan and Maggie were transported by ambulance from Palmerston to McMaster. At 1pm on Oct. 17, after extensive tests, a group of three doctors diagnosed Evan with leukemia. On Oct. 19, a main port was put into Evan’s chest for IV treatments and a bone marrow sample was drawn. Cancer treatments began Oct. 22.
“This was a huge shock to us. How could a healthy, happy boy be running around and playing one day and then have leukemia the next?� Maggie wondered. “It was hard for us to understand.� Family, friends and coworkers were in shock. There was an immediate outpouring of support from the community, family and friends. The family received phone calls, text messages, emails and Facebook messages. Neighbours offered to help with Evan’s siblings. Many families organized meals, snacks and gifts. Maggie has quit her job and her husband Bill has reduced hours at work to be able to spend time with the family as Maggie is living at McMaster with Evan. The family has a room at Ronald McDonald House. Bill uses it throughout the week when he visits. On weekends, Bill stays with Evan in the hospital and Maggie spends time with her other two children Olivia and Cody at the house. The family is thankful for everyone’s support, help and prayers. “We are extremely grateful to have such an amazing community stand with us while
we fight a long, hard battle,� Maggie said. Evan is receiving up to 10 different medications daily, chemotherapy every week, and gets platelet and red blood cell transfusions every few days. Information about Evan’s stay in Hamilton and ways to help the family can be found on Maggie’s Facebook page. Orange is the colour associated with leukemia. Anyone interested in showing their support of Evan can decorate their homes or businesses with orange ribbons. An account has been set up at the Royal Bank branch in Drayton to accept donations to help the family. Sharron Cairns of Canadian Blood Services encourages everyone to give blood or become a platelet donor. Platelet donors are in high demand. By booking an appointment it ensures the clinic has enough supplies to gather donations. The next clinic in Drayton, scheduled for Nov. 24, is in honour of Evan. The clinic runs from 3:30 to 7:30pm at Community Christian School. Donors are encouraged to call 1-888-236-6283 or email blood.ca to book an appointment.
Nov. 11 holiday idea questioned by area MPs by Chris Daponte OTTAWA - Declaring Remembrance Day a national holiday may seem like a no-brainer to some, but local MPs and Legion officials say the move may not produce the desired result. “If it becomes a statutory holiday, 75 per cent or so of [school-aged children] will still be in bed at the 11th hour on the 11th day,� Perth-Wellington MP Gary Schellenberger told the Community News. He was one of two dissenting votes when Parliament recently approved a second reading of a private member’s bill to make Nov. 11 a national holiday. “People will treat it as just another holiday ... it loses its meaning,� Schellenberger added. First introduced by Continued on page 5
Wind turbine opponents questioning results of Health Canada study
by Patrick Raftis WELLINGTON COUNTY - Wind turbine opponents are questioning the results of a federal study on wind turbine noise and health impacts that concludes there is no evidence of a link between exposure to turbines and a wide range of adverse health effects. The two-year, $2-million Health Canada study, released on Nov. 6, concludes there is no evidence to link wind turbine noise to self-reported illnesses such as dizziness, tinnitus and migraines, or chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. Likewise, no association was found between exposure to turbine noise and measures of stress such as blood pressure and heart rate. Health Canada states the results also show no indication of a connection between turbine noise and self-reported or measured sleep quality. “While some people reported some of the health conditions above, their existence was not found to change in relation to exposure to wind turbine noise,� states a summary of the study posted on the Health Canada website. The study did find an association between increasing lev-
Too close for comfort? - Dave Hurlburt of Oppose Belwood Wind Farm says findings of a Health Canada study show that Ontario turbines, like these along along the 16th Line in Mapleton, are being placed too close to homes. photo by Patrick Raftis els of wind turbine noise and “individuals reporting to be very or extremely annoyed.� The study also found wind turbine annoyance to be “statistically related� to some health effects, including “perceived stress.� However, no association
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was found with any significant changes in overall quality of life and satisfaction with health, as assessed using the World Health Organization’s “Quality of Life Scale.� Wind Concerns Ontario (WCO) president Jane Wilson said her organization is not
surprised by the study results. “They always said from the beginning that it was just going to be a view of what was going on in Canada and they had hoped to, and I think they say that, add to the global pool of information on wind turbine noise. So they did that,
Weekly Wag
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and they did find some health effects,â€? Wilson said in a telephone interview on Nov. 7. “The disappointment for us is they haven’t said explicitly ‌ that they’re going to continue to monitor the situation and they have not said that they are going to be doing more research. “We would have thought, given the level of concern in Ontario in particular, and the fact they did find over 16 per cent of people with problems, that they would have pledged to kind of keep going on this.â€? Wilson said the study results conflict with the information her organization is receiving. “We’re hearing weekly, if not daily, of people having to leave their homes and people having health problems ... You look at this paper and those two things don’t necessarily coalesce as two realities.â€? Wilson said wind power is costing Ontarians in other ways, some of which can lead to health impacts. She said it’s costing billions of dollars to produce “surplusâ€? power utilizing wind turbines and that’s impacting people’s wallets. “As electricity bills are going higher and higher, people are feeling poorer and there are actually some people we
know who are saying ‘I have to make a choice between paying the heating bill and buying the amount of food that I’d like to.’ So we’re looking at that as a very serious economic impact of wind power in particular,� said Wilson, adding the link between poverty and health is obvious. “Clearly if you are not able to pay for certain things, then that’s going to affect your health.� She said WCO has already convened an expert panel to review “this study and whatever else we get from Health Canada,� and will be delivering comments back to the government agency within a few weeks. David Hurlburt, vice-president of Oppose Belwood Wind Farm, says members of his group “weren’t too surprised� by the study findings. “You know the political implications of all this is quite significant,� said Hurlburt. “We can’t understand how they arrive at these conclusions from the findings they got. “We’re disappointed with their conclusions obviously, but we are encouraged by the findings around this whole thing of annoyance,� said Continued on page 4
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