Richard Froese
South Peace News
A young High Prairie boy who conquered cancer, along with his family, will host a barbecue July 18 to thank the community for its support.

Josh Halverson, 13, and his family will host the event at O’s Treats from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Proceeds from the barbecue will be forwarded to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.

“We feel we need to give back to our community and show our appreciation for all the help we received,” says mother Angie Halverson.
“The outpouring of love was truly humbling.”

Funds raised will be allocated to support two High Prairie families currently battling cancer, and to the Stollery Child Life program.

Besides selling hot- dogs and hamburgers, a donation jar will be available for gift cards or cash.

The date of the event marks the first anniversary of the day that Josh was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, the same cancer that struck Terry Fox.

“Josh has made a full recovery,” she says.

His end-of-treatment scans were clear of cancer, with his next scans in August.

“When those scans are clear, he will be considered ‘in remission’ but will need bone scans and CT scans every three months for the next two years, then every six months for three years after,” Halverson says.
“He needed a full knee replacement and he lost two thirds of his quad muscles.”

Josh was in and out of Stollery from July 18, 2016 to April 18.

“He was hospitalized for 57 days from Dec. 19 to Feb. 10 because his prosthetic knee was extremely infected,” Hal- verson says.

Chemotherapy was hard on him, but he did very well, says Angie, who adds the physiotherapy teams both in High Prairie and Edmonton were amazing.

Josh spent his 13th birthday in the hospital getting chemo.

“We went for an X-ray June 21, 2016 because of knee pain and the X-ray came back abnormal,” Halverson says.

Josh and his family are grateful to Dr. Petrus DuToit and X-ray technician Shawna Noble for noticing the hazy part almost instantly, she says.

“It was a long and hard battle for us, but made much easier by everyone around us,” Halverson says.
“It’s comforting to know that in High Prairie, we didn’t fight alone.
“And in the hard days when we were homesick and tired there were people we could lean on.”

Josh Halverson has fully recovered from cancer that was diagnosed one year ago.

Stollery support for Josh ‘amazing’
Support from Stollery was also appreciated by the family.

The Stollery runs an amazing pediatric oncology program.

Part of the program involves Child Life specialists, which basically is an adult that helps and supports the children in the unit in any way possible.

They help them through hard procedures or when they are having a tough time. Josh used a lot of the supports in the Child Life program.

His favourite was poke prizes – every time you get a needle you get a stamp and when you get five stamps you get a $10 gift card. They also run a teen room each day, with teenage activities and a lady who organizes everything.

Josh also got to meet players from the Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Blue Jays.

He also participated in a beaded string program called “beaded journey” which is similar to a visual timeline, where each procedure, life event, chemo hang, needle is worth a bead. It’s actually super-cool. Josh’s is really long.
Outpouring of love, support impresses the Halverson family
Community support was strong for Team Josh throughout his ordeal.

“Some amazing friends held an online auction for us, and people were so generous, and O’s Treats held a fundraiser, too,” says Angie Halverson.
“My sisters made magnets for vehicles, plus people donated to us privately.
“It was all overwhelming and humbling and we are so grateful,” she adds.

People helped take care of their daughter, Kalliope, and neighbors weeded her garden, mowed the grass, sent flowers and gifts, prayed for them daily and sent love, daily text messages and calls from people in High Prairie and Williams Lake, B.C.