Each year, the IWK Health Centre picks a child to be its ambassador across the country. This year’s Champion Child is a nearly four-year-old Cape Breton boy with a whole lot of personality.
Reid Mayich was born with a rare condition called mastocytosis, which causes his whole body to break out in a rash. It also affects his immune system.
His parents say Reid hasn’t had to visit the IWK for more than a year and is doing a lot better these days.
“The time between episodes has certainly lengthened from when he was a youngster,” says Reid’s dad, John. “He was airlifted seven or eight times, had a lot of transfusions because of blood conditions, but he’s been doing really well the last year-and-a-half or so.”
Reid seems to enjoy being the centre of attention and is looking forward to his new role as the IWK’s ambassador.
The 2008 Champion Child, and fellow Cape Bretoner, Matthew MacDonald says Reid is in for a fun year.
“I think he is going to be an incredible Champion Child,” says MacDonald. “He’s got a lot of enthusiasm, he’s hilarious and I think he is going to represent the Maritimes extremely well.”
The IWK says Reid’s inspiring attitude will provide a ray of hope to the patients he meets, as well as their families.
“He’s an incredibly outgoing young man, with a 10,000-watt smile. It’s hard not to be inspired when you see someone like that beaming back at you,” says Geoffrey Milder of the IWK Foundation.
“Even with his condition, we weren’t going to hold him back from participating in sports and events, things like that, we want him to live the life of a normal child,” says John.
Doctors say, based on Reid’s progress, he has a good chance of outgrowing his condition by his teens.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald
